


Some of us need the storm to feel safe

by A_Tomb_With_A_View



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Amnesia, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Asexual Jason Grace, Awesome Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, BAMF Jason Grace, BAMF Nico di Angelo, BAMF Piper McLean, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Jason Grace/Piper McLean, Praetor!Nico di Angelo, Roman!Nico di Angelo, Scary Jason grace, Slow Burn, beefy Jason grace, but I promise it’s a happy ending, like it’ll take a while to get there, popular!nico di Angelo, the Greeks heavily disagree, the Romans think Jason is the scary one and Nico is the nice one, the slowest of burns
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:47:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 101,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24859384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Tomb_With_A_View/pseuds/A_Tomb_With_A_View
Summary: When Nico di Angelo first arrived at Camp Jupiter, nobody really knew what to do with him. He was scrawny and short and looked at least a little malnourished, and the shadows clung to him like they were trying desperately to drag him into the Nether.Jason, for his part, thought the guy looked pretty cool, but he was only a centurion, and even as the only child of the Big Three, saying “that guy looks pretty cool” was not going to convince the Senate of anything but Jason’s impending lunacy.(On hiatus until 25th April)
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson (background) - Relationship, Jason Grace & Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Jason Grace/Piper McLean, Nico di Angelo & Jason Grace & Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Nico di Angelo & Piper McLean, Nico di Angelo/Jason Grace, Piper McLean/Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano
Comments: 420
Kudos: 553





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So this is something I’ve wanted to do for a while; especially after rereading HOO and realised that asides from the very start and end, it’s a jasico love story, so heres my take on what would happen if Nico was a Roman, but was initially claimed by Hades, so the events of PJO still happened. Enjoy :)

When Nico di Angelo first arrived at Camp Jupiter, nobody really knew what to do with him. He was scrawny and short and looked at least a little malnourished, and the shadows clung to him like they were trying desperately to drag him into the Nether. 

Jason, for his part, thought the guy looked pretty cool, but he was only a centurion, and even as the only child of the Big Three, saying _“that guy looks pretty cool”_ was not going to convince the Senate of anything but Jason’s impending lunacy. 

They couldn’t turn Nico di Angelo away though. He’d arrived halfway through a Senate meeting, having been dragged in by the Border Patrol, and despite the room of Lars and officers staring, and how pale and shaky he looked, he’d coolly surveyed the room. “My father is Pluto.” He’d declared, voice far too raspy and rough for someone so young. “He wants me to join the Legion, but he’s unsure of how you’ll treat his children. Until such a point where he’s certain I’ll be..” his face had darkened slightly. “Safe, he wants me to act as his ambassador.” And then the Senate had promptly lost their collective shit. 

——

Jason had kind of hated di Angelo for a while. Not because of anything the kid himself had said or done, but because he was clearly so close to his father, when Jason had never heard anything from his. When di Angelo later explained that the reason his father was deliberating was because he even ran errands for him, did little jobs here and there, and that Pluto would now need to set up some sort of system for getting the jobs done that his son usually did, Jason couldn’t help but think of how Jupiter had never even officially claimed him, never mind asked him for help.

Eventually, the _Praetors_ decided that a son of Pluto was of too much use to not compromise slightly, and though they never commented on how much of an insult to Pluto it would’ve been to turn him away, Jason knew that was a part of their reasoning too. They offered him a place, even if it was in the Fifth Cohort on _Probatio_ , and more flexibility than any other Legionnaire had. As long as he gave them a bit of notice before he left, he’d be permitted absences whilst his father figured everything out. 

di Angelo became a full member of the Legion not a month after that, when he performed his act of valour by returning from his travels with four unclaimed demigods, who’d been way out of Lupa’s grasp. According to Dakota, who’d been on the Border when di Angelo had returned, they’d been fighting Griffins when he’d found them. A chest of imperial gold weapons was found outside the _Principia_ hours after Octavian had burned the symbol and line on di Angelo’s skin, which he said was probably a gift of approval from his father.

Jason had never seen even a single flash of lightning in answer to a prayer to Jupiter, and yet di Angelo often sauntered into a Senate meeting, declaring that his dad wanted to see him for dinner, or his step mom wanted him to try a new tea blend, or his uncle Letum needed help, so he was leaving, always with a reminder that time was weird in the Underworld, so he might be gone a couple days even if he didn’t mean to.

So yeah. Jason kinda hated the guy, even if he knew it was all misplaced, as Gwen kept reminding him, even if at least a part of it was the way his chest felt all weird and tight when di Angelo talked to him, in the same way his chest used to feel all tight when the pretty son of Venus from the First used to tease him.

——

Nico was actually, in line with Jason’s first impression, pretty cool. He wasn’t always great at fighting with the Cohort, didn’t seem to know how to trust the legionnaires around him, but he was a little devil all by himself, and had much more control of his powers than Jason could ever hope to have - he’d managed to figure a few things out on his own, but he imagined Jupiter would never teach him, the way Pluto had Nico - so he was useful to have around all the same. As Nico got used to the Legion, he stuck around for longer and longer, and he and Jason talked more and more. By June, as they geared up for war against the Titans, he’d been there for a full two months without leaving at all.

They became friends pretty quickly from there, once Jason stopped taking his anger with Jupiter out on him. Nico encouraged him to take it to the weights room, and taught Jason a style of fighting he’d never seen before, that didn’t recognise at all. He’d cautiously explained that because he’d been trained by a myriad of dead instructors, he didn’t fight in one specific style, and that was why it was weird. In return, Jason helped him learn to fight as a team, how to trust the soldiers around him, and soon, with the both of them together, the Fifth became a Cohort to be reckoned with, especially in War Games. Nico even started explaining the basics of his power, in the hopes that Jason’s worked similarly. They did, it turned out, and his tutelage helped a lot. Sure he couldn’t do anything as cool as Nico yet, but by calling on his emotions to fuel his attacks instead of the well of raw power sitting in his stomach, and by building his stamina in the gym, exercising his powers became less draining, and he could do it quicker, and with more finesse. 

The pair of them together became a common sight, along with another centurion from the First Cohort, Reyna. Reyna and Nico were fast friends, with the same dark sense of humour and way of commanding respect and fear in whatever room they walk into, and Jason and Reyna clicked immediately, what with the same sense of justice and ruthless approach to dealing with problems. Legionnaires were even a bit scared of them, Jason and Reyna both stacked with solid muscle, and Nico strong and fast despite his smaller size. Jason secretly thought they should be most scared of Nico: sure Jason was powerful and angry and built like a brick shithouse, and sure Reyna was strong and fierce and brutal, but Nico could calm them or call them to arms with a single look, and that alone, without taking into account his own incredible power and skill, made him deadlier than either of them. 

It was nice, though, having such close friends. It was especially nice having friends who understood his anger, and shared in it even, friends who we’re placed on pedestals just as he was, although he was relieved that people didn’t mistrust Nico because of his father like he’d feared. They couldn’t give a flying fuck about his dad either, as long as he didn’t judge them on their own godly parents. He didn’t, although Pluto sounded like a fun guy, and his relationship with Prosperine was kind of goals. 

The only time Nico ever brought up Jupiter was when they snuck out to train, and Nico raised other sons of Jupiter to teach Jason to use his powers. Perseus was pretty friendly, and Aecus was really helpful, but neither of them had the gentle, yet demanding teaching style Nico had, so it was unsurprising that he only started fully mastering tricks when Nico finally agreed to actually get involved with the training.

——

Nico left again before the battle against Krios, and Jason was so taught and stressed without him, that when he finally unleashed his emotions mid battle, his veins had flooded with energy. Reyna later told him he’d surrounded himself with a furious storm that flickered with lightning, which jumpedoff his blade and fists to decimate anything or anyone who got too close to him, while Dakota claimed his eyes had glowed pure white. He’d taken down Krios himself, and was raised on Shields, alongside Reyna who’d masterminded the whole goddamn thing, all the way back to camp, lauded as heroes and _praetors_.

Nico returned in the last week of August, eyes red and sunken, hair mused like he’d been rushing through a forest, scratches everywhere. Jason was so relieved to see him that he kissed him in front of the entire Legion, to a roar of applause and wolf whistles. Nico kissed him back tentatively, and then whispered, cheeks bright red, that he needed an audience with the Senate, stat.

In the Senate, Nico told them that the Greeks were still alive, that while the Romans stormed Mount Tampalais and defeated Krios, he was in Manhattan, defending Olympus from Kronos and Hyperion. The Senate sat in stunned silence as Nico reassured them that he was Roman, looking slightly panicked. He explained that his father really was Pluto, and that he’d never been able to fit in with the Greeks. He had assumed the judgement and fear was about his father until he got to New Rome, where he’d been accepted, and he now suspected it was the Greek vs Roman thing. He told them that he hadn’t known that his father wasn’t Hades but Pluto, until Pluto noticed his inability to fit in with the Greeks, and decided to end his suffering. He quietly added that he wouldn’t help them find the Greeks, wouldn’t support any aggression towards them, but that if he was still welcome, then he was ready to relinquish the flexibility being Ambassador of Pluto brought him. Jason was tempted to declare war on the Greeks when Nico admitted that he spent half his time at Camp Half Blood helping save Olympus, and even after dragging Hades to battle, he got side eyes and whispers wherever he went. When Nico declared he’d much prefer to be a Legionnaire, and that there was more for him in New Rome anyway, Jason almost kissed him in front of the Senate.

Octavian had yelled out something about not believing he was actually a Roman, that he was probably _Graceus_ scum, and Jason watched in complete awe, as Nico just glared at him, and yelled for Pluto. The shadows coalesced next to Nico, then dissipated to reveal a man that did look kind of like him, but with close cropped hair and paler skin. Pluto confirmed his story, and added that Nico had one more mission to do for him, but then he’d be free to join camp. No one acknowledged the way he heavily implied that Nico damn well better be welcome, but Jason knew it wasn’t really necessary. Nico was well liked and respected, even if he got the same awe and fear as Jason did. 

——

The day before Nico had to leave for his last mission, they went on a date. Nico dragged him to the mortal world to see Up. It was a terrible idea, and they cried the whole way through it, but when Jason folded up the arm between them and wrapped his arm around the other boy,Nico had sighed happily and cuddled into his side, so really, he considered it a success.

Jason had walked Nico back to his bunk, swinging their hands between them, and kissed him goodnight, the pair of them blushing madly. The next day, he escorted him to the Tunnel in a similar manner, and Nico kissed him goodbye, just as red as the night before. 

——

The next time he saw Nico was a week later, with a girl who looked nothing like him that he claimed was his sister. Hazel Levesque was sweet, and nervous, and kind, and Jason could see why Nico loved her. She didn’t really join their little group, she made her own friends, but Reyna taught her to fight on a Pegasus when she had a spare moment, and she joined Nico and Jason for their training sessions. She was powerful, and Jason hugged her just as proudly as Nico did when she held her own in a fight against him for a full ten minutes. 

Hazel encouraged Jason and Nico to go on dates, too. She was more of a romantic than either of them, and she would supply them both ideas, always smirking proudly, and Jason was constantly reminded that he’d always wanted a little sister - it seemed he’d finally gotten one. Sure it would’ve been nice if she’d feared him a slight bit as much as the rest of the Legion did, but if she was even half as powerful and smart as her brother, Jason figured he should probably be the one fearing her. 

At Hazel’s advice, they went to a theme park, and an aquarium, and an old cinema that played all the Pirates of the Caribbean films back to back, which was Nico’s favourite date. Jason’s was either when they climbed the _principia_ and had a picnic on the roof as they watched a meteor shower, or when they went to Italy one time. Nico had been practising, and had been so tired afterwards that they’d had to stay there a couple days, but Pluto had a place in Venice, so they crashed there, and went for walks, and Gondola rides, and paid extortionate prices for coke on St Marks Square. 

——

In October, Nico was given his first quest, and so was promoted to Centurion, finally filling the vacuum left by Jason’s ascendance to Praetor. He took Dakota, who was set to be his fellow centurion after Gwen aged out, and one of his closest friends in the legion. Some people complained that Nico’s promotion was favouritism, but even Octavian admitted, looking like he was sucking a lemon, that the quest needed to be led by someone who could essentially teleport, and only Centurions could lead quests. He took one other member of the Fifth, Laila, and the trio returned with a seed from Ceres, thick as thieves. Nico bitched to Jason about his step grandma for a whole hour when he got back, sprawled out on top of him, but the leaves from the plant that sprang forth from the seed in the Garden of Bacchus were vital for something Octavian wanted, and the reluctant gratitude from the Augur made it worth it. 

By November, Jason could summon a full tempest. Nico was incredibly proud of him, and there was soon a framed photo next to Jason’s bed of them kissing in the middle of it, absolutely drenched from the rain, as well a sketch Hazel did of Nico watching Jason call down lightning from the storm, pure pride plastered across his face. Soon after, they sparred in front of the whole Legion, both using their powers to the extreme. Jason managed to get electricity to course through his veins again, whilst Nico flitted in and out of the shadows in a whirl of darkness, raising skeletons, and shifting the ground beneath them. He was nowhere as accomplished in geokinesis as his sister, but they’d been training each other, and the leaps and bounds he’d come since Hazel’s arrival were evident. 

Nobody won, it ended with Jason’s sword at Nico’s sternum, and a knife that he’d never seen before in Nico’s hand, resting against Jason’s carotid. The entire legion watched in stunned silence, and Dakota and Laila teased that they’d all made a collective vow not to fuck with either of them. 

Some other kid had made a rude comment as they walked past, and Jason had turned to snap at him, stopped only by the feeling of Nico tracing a vein up his forearm. 

From then on, Nico became known as the officer you wanted with you whenever you reported unfavourable news to either Praetor. He could soften them, whetherit was by convincing his new big sister that shooting the messenger was bad, or by linking his fingers with his boyfriend’s. It didn’t really work the other way around, unfortunately. If there was one thing a Legionnaire feared more than an angry Nico, it was a Jason that knew you were the reason his tiny boyfriend was mad. 

—— 

On the last day of November, Nico left on another quest, and when he returned, Jason wasn’t there to kiss him hello, or drag him to the bakery for brownies. Reyna said he’d been there the day after Nico left, but the next morning he’d simply disappeared, no note, no sign of struggle.

——

Jason woke up in the back seat of a school bus, not sure where he was, holding hands with a girl he didn’t know. 

——

Jason dreamed he was wrapped in chains, hanging upside down like a hunk of meat. 

——

Jason had found his sister and lost her in less than an hour.

——

“Exactly.” Jason agreed. “Percy Jackson is at the other camp, and he probably doesn’t even remember who he is.” 

——

In Jason’s absence, Nico was the most powerful demigod at camp. He was quickly pushed to assume a role as stand in Praetor, which he never would’ve dreamed of if not for how tired Reyna looked. He’d never wanted to lead, would rather find a dark corner to curl up in and cry, but his sister needed him, and he’d never been able to say no to a single one of them. 

——

The next eight months were hell. Not only was Nico missing Jason like a lost limb, but leading was hard. He was a good diplomat, and he knew how to strong arm the senate with fancy words in a way that Reyna hadn’t quite managed yet. The problem was that the they were so fucking stubborn that even getting someone on the floor for debate was a godsdamned nightmare. It didn’t help that no one considered that bitching about their missing praetor, in front of his boyfriend and best friend, like he’d dishonoured the Legion was a shitty thing to do.

He ignored every iris message from the Greeks. He knew it was probably important. They never called him for anything else, and convincing the Romans not to march on Camp Half Blood was the best he could do for them. Sometimes, he admitted to himself, it was as much as he wanted to do. He had a Legion to lead, and two sisters to look after, and a missing boyfriend to find. The Greeks would find their way out of whatever shit they’d found themselves in without him. According to them, they always did.

——

Pluto visited Nico in a dream midway through February. He explained that Hades had claimed him because he was powerful and because his decisions would have the most impact with the Greek. The Fates didn’t like to intervene, but they were old friends of Hades. They’d told him that a child of the Underworld would tip the balance of the war, but only in the hands of the Greeks. A demigod with the ichor of Hades running through their veins would be able to tip the scales so thoroughly with no telling of which side would fall.Either Nico would do what needed to be done to save Olympus, or his anger would spark the fires of its destruction. As a son of Pluto, he wouldn’t be close enough to the real action to make as much of a difference. Krios would fall with or without him, but Kronos’ success lied in his hands as much as Percy’s or Annabeth’s. 

Pluto had apologised, had told him he never wanted for Nico to suffer the way he had. Apparently that was why he led him to Camp Jupiter months before the other gods were willing. He‘d said he wanted Nico to be happy, and that he was sorry he’d played a role in his misery.

Nico hadn’t cared that much. The timing had worked for him. He’d met Jason, even if he was missing, he’d met Hazel and Reyna, his two new sisters, and Dakota and Leila, his best friends. The only thing he needed now was Jason back. Everything else was finally looking up for him. 

——

“Hazel,” said Reyna, “bring him inside. I want to question him at the principia. Then we’ll send him to Octavian. We must consult the auguries before we decide what to do with him. And if you see your brother, tell him that just because he’s only a _Praetor tempus_ , doesn’t mean he’s not required to attend Senate meetings. If he’s not there, I will kick his ass.” 

——

The boy regained his composure and held out his hand. “Pleased to meet you,” he said. “I’m Nico di Angelo. _Praetor tempus_ to the Twelfth.” 

——

When they got the scroll from Leo Valdez, Nico made two plans. If Jason came back having remembered him like Percy remembered Annabeth, he would start having meetings with his dad and Uncle Letum about options for closing the Doors of Death. He’d do it rationally, professionally. He’d just be risking his ass to save his Legion.

If Jason had no memory of him, if he came back with a blank, polite smile or and distant eyes... Nico would be going as a stupid kid doing something potentially suicidal to take his mind off his life, and to attempt to save the boy he was in love with. Again.

He’d find the Doors, one way or another, either as a Roman Officer, or as a reckless fool with a broken heart.

——

In front of Annabeth, the demigods made way for a boy and a girl in full Roman armour and purple capes. They could’ve passed for siblings. The girl had dark hair, tumbling across her soldiers. Her eyes were as black as obsidian. The boy was... Nico di Angelo, looking healthier than she’d ever seen him. His skin was finally beginning to darken back to the olive it had been before, hair curled around his ears, dark eyes staring past her, unreadable as ever. Annabeth whipped her head around to follow his line of sight to Jason, holding hands with Piper. When she turned back, Nico was gone. Rage and hurt flashed across Reyna’s face, but it was gone before Annabeth could even properly process it.

——

Reyna knew as soon as she saw Jason disembark the ship holding hands with a girl, that Nico would go. She wasn’t even surprised that he didn’t stay to meet them. Reyna was close to running away from this pale imitation of her best friend as it was. If she’d been in love with him...well. She didn’t blame Nico at all.

Nico had told the Senate of his plan anyway. Kind of. He’d told the room of auspicious Lares and officers that he planned to find the Doors of Death and attempt to close them. “I’m giving you the chance to outlaw me in advance.” He’d said, tone sardonic but face serious. “I may have to travel to the Ancient Lands. You may wish to consider that laws must be broken in law. I suggest it starts here.”

They’d approved his plan.

Reyna didn’t fault him for leaving out the difference in plans depending on Jason’s state upon his return. Nico was protecting them, really.. If they knew that he’d be throwing himself into it out of grief, they’d blame themselves if he died. By making his journey seem planned and well thought out, he was sparing them that. It wad a relief that he hadn’t tried to do the same to her. He’d let her hug him tightly before the ship had touched down, let her murmur official farewells, and for that, she was grateful.

She straightened her shoulders, and smiled coldly. She couldn’t quite bring herself to project warmth at the boy who’d hurt her little brother, no matter how unwittingly. “Jason Grace, my former colleague..” she spoke the word _colleague_ like it was a dangerous thing. “I welcome you home.”

——

“Hazel,” Jason said. “Leo is raising a fair point. I remember Nico from Camp Jupiter. Now I find out he also visited Camp Half-Blood. That does strike me as...well, a little shady. Do we really know where his loyalties lie? We just have to be careful.”

Hazel’s arms shook. A sliver platter zoomed towards her and hit the wall to her left, splattering scrambled eggs. “You...you were friends with him.” Her voice was shaky, but cold. “He told the Roman Senate about the Greeks months ago. The second he joined the Legion full time, he told them everything. His father is Pluto, same as mine. He went to Camp Half-Blood because he was ordered to by our father, until Pluto could no longer allow Nico to deal with the distrust there! If not for him, we would’ve obliterated Camp Half Blood the second we found out about it. Who do you think strong armed Octavian into not reacting?” Hazel stomped her foot and stormed out of the mess hall.

Jason had never considered that Nico could actually be Roman. Percy had implied that he was too untrustworthy and disloyal to possibly fit into the Legion, and Jason didn’t remember much, except a dark presence and unease in the Senate. Then again, Annabeth had mentioned he’s worn _Praetor’s_ robes. Could he really have forgotten someone who Hazel claimed was so close to him?

——

“Tartarus,” he guessed. “The deepest part of the Underworld.”

Nico nodded. “They pulled me into the pit, Percy. The things I saw down there..” his voice broke.

——

“The other side, Nico! We’ll see you there. Understand?”

Nico’s eyes widened. “But-“

“Lead them there!” Percy shouted. “Promise me!”

“I-I will.”

——

Nico took a deep breath. “I don’t know how they’ll manage it, but Percy and Annabeth will find a way. They’ll journey through Tartarus and find the Doors of Death. When they do, we have to be ready.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be updating every Monday, comments and kudos are much appreciated, and constructive criticism is welcome :)


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Nico rescued and Percy and Annabeth in Tartarus, the remaining crew aboard the Argo get to know Praetor numero tres

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Welcome to chapter 1, from now on this whole thing will be in Jason’s POV, 3rd person. To clarify on timelines, although it’s not mentioned yet, I’m saying Nico went into the Lotus at 10, and by the time he exited, about a month before his birthday, the 28th January, he’d aged three years, making his birthday in between TTC and BotL his 13th birthday. Going with this, by the time, he had his fifteenth birthday between tLH and SoN. Jason has his sixteenth birthday in MoA as happens in the books. Enjoy :)

Nico di Angelo was a problem.

Every time he walked into a room, this presence in the back of Jason’s mind lit up and made his head pound, like it was trying to tug at threads that weren’t there anymore. It frustrated him to no end, and acted as a constant reminder that unlike Percy, he hadn’t regained most of his memories of before the war. He didn’t know why every time his rage started to surface, he found himself in a weights room, lifting until he was too exhausted to over complicate anything. He didn’t know why he kept strapping spare knives onto his thighs and forearms, even though he’d never really been much of one for knives. He didn’t know why sometimes he flinched away from Piper, expecting her touch to hurt, just because the sun hitting his skin made his veins glow. He didn’t know fucking anything about himself, and Nico’s presence only served to highlight that viscerally.

Nico would probably know the answer to all those things, if they were as close as Hazel had suggested, but in the days since rescuing him from the jar, he’d kept himself firmly in the crow’s nest most of the time, only appearing in the mess hall to eat a meagre bit of food and disappear again. The one time Jason was stupid enough to fly up there to try and draw him into conversation, Nico had glared at him, eyes red and face twisted in pain and grief, until Jason had retreated.Jason probably would‘ve felt bitter about the lack of leadership from his fellow _praetor_ , but he was too busy being in awe of how much Nico had gone through.

Their first real conversation on board the ship was about Clytius, and even then, it was a team meeting, not some heart to heart where Nico finally revealed what Jason had been like, who he’d been close friends with, had he liked anybody, which bakery did the brownies he liked. Nico sat next to Hazel and Frank, tufts of black hair stuck up in curls like baby bat wings, eyes looking as shattered as ever.

“I communed with the dead last night.” Jason felt like that should make him feel weird, but the weird presence in the back of his mind seemed content as could be. “I was able to learn more about what we’ll face.” He quickly explained the House of Hades and it’s purpose, then paused to allow Leo and Frank chipping their two cents in. 

Jason flashed Leo a look, and he settled down. “Nico, go on.”

“The pilgrims believed that each level of the temple brought you closer to the Underworld, until the dead would appear before you. If they were pleased with your offerings, they would answer your questions, maybe even tell you the future.”

Frank tapped his mug of hot chocolate. “And if the spirits weren’t pleased?” 

“Some pilgrims found nothing.” Nico said. “Others went insane or died after leaving the temple. Others lost their way in the tunnels and were never seen again.”

“The point is,” Jason jumped in, desperate to keep what little optimism they had left, “Nico found some information that might help us.”

“Yeah.” Any optimism Jason tried to recruit was instantly dissipated by Nico’s tone of voice. “The ghost I spoke to last night...he was a former priest of Hecate. He confirmed what the goddess told Hazel yesterday at the crossroads. In the first war with the giants, Hecate fought for the gods. She slew one of the giants - one who’d been designed as the anti-Hecate. A guy named Clytius.”

“Dark dude,” Leo said, and Jason whipped around to look at him. “Wrapped in shadows.”

Hazel turned towards Leo as well, eyes narrowing. Somehow she still managed to avoid Jason’s gaze, even though he twisted back to look at her when she spoke. “Leo, how did you know that?”

“Kind of had a dream.”

Jason wasn’t surprised. What was another bad dream these days? He pushed away his plate of pancakes as Leo finished his retelling of his dream. “So the Giant is Clytius. I suppose we’ll be waiting for us, guarding the Doors of Death.”

Frank kept eating, and Jason wished he had the guy’s stomach. He was starving, but he couldn’t imagine much worse than eating at the moment. “And the woman in Leo’s dream?”

“She’s my problem.” Hazel spun a diamond between her fingers. “Hecate mentioned a formidable enemy in the House of Hades - a witch who couldn’t be defeated except by me, using magic.”

“Do you know magic?” Leo asked. 

“Not yet.”

“Ah.” Leo’s face fell slightly. “Any idea who she is?”

Hazel shook her head. “Only that..” She glanced around Nico, and although they didn’t speak aloud, Jason could’ve sworn some kind of argument happened, one that the presence at the back of his brain was insistent he should understand. “Only that she won’t be easy to defeat.” She added finally. 

“But there is some good news.” Nico didn’t look at all enthused, despite what he was saying. “The ghost I talked to explained how Hecate defeated Clytius in the first war. She used her torches to set his hair on fire. He burned to death. In other words, fire is his weakness.”

Jason tried to project some kind of reassuring belief in Leo, but things had never been that easy, and he wasn’t enough of an idiot to think they’d start now. The Fates didn’t like them that much.

After a moment of awkward silence, a thought struck him, and he turned to Nico. “Wait, does..- does the Senate know you’re here? They don’t think you’ve been, like, I don’t know, kidnapped by a group of seven outlaws that bombed New Rome, do they?”

Nico raised an eyebrow coolly. “First of all, the Senate knows full well that a group of demigods couldn’t detain me, even with Percy Jackson and Jason Grace amongst them. Please keep in mind that the only way the Giants could keep me in one place was with a jar designed to hold Mars.”

Jason winced. “Sorry, of course. Sorry. But, you didn’t just abandon Reyna did you?”

The look Nico shot him before his face shuttered was so hurt and betrayed that Jason had to fight the urge to beg forgiveness. “The Senate fully approved my plan to look for the Doors about three hours after we got the scroll from Valdez. I wrote to Reyna the night you found me to let her know that I’m alive, and that Hazel and Frank are holding up okay. Reyna is as much a sister to me as Hazel, I wouldn’t do that to her. Gwen has agreed to help out whilst I’m gone.”

“You..wrote to her?“ Leo’s nose wrinkled in disgust. “On paper? Why not, I don’t know, IM her?”

Nico rolled his eyes. “Because I can shove a letter through the shadows. No problems with service, or gods that don’t like children of Pluto, or unreliable interns.”

Hazel snorted. “I can’t believe Fleecy won’t let you use IM.” She grinned at Nico. “You did tell her to go fuck herself when she tried to give you one of those muffins, though.”

“Woah!” Leo dragged the conversation back to him. “You can communicate using the shadows? Why didn’t we know about this?“

Nico’s face flickered with confusion, different from the slight smirk he’d adopted, but still refreshingly open. “I’m a son of Pluto. The shadows do whatever I want them to do.”

Piper cocked her head. “You don’t have the same powers as Hazel?” She questioned.

“Do you see Hazel talking to the dead?“ Jason could see Nico’s guard rising.

“I didn’t know she couldn’t do that. What can you do, then?” Piper persisted, obviously she didn’t catch the warning glance Jason tried to throw at her.

Nico shrugged, shoulders hunched. “I can control bones, shadows. Sometimes ghosts, if they’re not too strong willed. Obsidian, but I’ve not managed to do much with that asides from when I brought down Kronos’ temple on Mount Tam. Um, when I get angry I can make it cold, and sometimes I can summon hellfire, but I only managed that once, with Pluto helping me. Oh, I can see in the dark, too.” He hummed softly, looking more comfortable as Leo and Piper’s eyes widened, clearly in awe, not fear. Somehow Jason wasn’t surprised at the growing list of Nico’s powers. “I can control dreams a little bit, although I only use that on the kids who have nightmares. I think i can radiate fear, someone from the Mars, sorry, Ares cabin, told me that I radiated fear when I challenged Kronos.“

Leo made a choked sound. “You did what?”

Nico blinked. “Did Percy not tell you? I dragged Hades to fight in the Battle of Manhattan, and chatted with Kronos. Supposedly i sassed him, but I can’t really remember what I said. Something about his death being great for me, and disagreeing with my chances of surviving. I know Hades called him a shitty dad.”

“Are there..” Leo looked surprisingly tentative. “Are there any other things you can do?”

He shrugged. “Uh, I can heal really small injuries with shadows, but I’m terrible at it. Generate shadows. Shadowtravel, which I can do fully, like my whole body, and even other people if I’m really well rested, but also I can just shove my hand through. It’s how I sent the letter to Reyna.” He shoved his hand under the table, and it grabbed Leo’s hand. Leo screamed.

“Can we circle back to Pluto helping you train?” Piper asked after a moment.

Frank lit up. “Oh gods, you should hear the story of when he got initiated. I wasn’t there, but supposedly, he told the Senate about the Greeks pretty much straight after the war. As legend has it, Octavian didn’t believe him, and called him _Gracaeus_ scum. He just yelled for Pluto, and Pluto freaking showed. Left a whole crate of Imperial Gold weapons outside the Principia.”

Leo and Piper both stared at Nico. “You yelled for your dad, and he just showed up?” Leo questioned, looking completely shell shocked. “Like sure I’ve spoken to my dad but that’s..that’s a whole new level.”

Nico was blushing when Jason glanced up at him, but his shoulders were straight, and his had a small, pleased smile. “We’re close. I’m his only living child that he can acknowledge, and I get along with mom and Uncle Letum too, so.”

”Mom?“ Frank echoed, clearly not having heard this bit.

”Prosperine.” Jason said, without thinking.

When Nico’s eyes snapped to him they were cold. He visibly shut down, going from the blushing, personable _Praetor_ he’d been moments before, to the broken kid they’d rescued from the Jar in seconds. “Yeah.” He stood up. “Prosperine. I.. I’ve gotta..” He was gone before Jason could even think to follow him, little vapour whirls of shadows behind him.

Then, obviously, they got attacked by kleptomaniac dwarves. 

——

There was something about dangling from a huge, naked stature of Neptune whilst his best friend saved the day that served as an extremely humbling experience for Jason. Arriving once Leo had already dealt with the dwarves and only needed Jason to look vaguely threatening only really shoved that point home.

He’d been expecting to go on this quest as some kind of leader, not because he doubted Annabeth or Percy, but because that was what made sense to him. He’d happily deferred to Annabeth, he would’ve been an idiot not to, but leading, well... It was what he did. It was the one thing that had stayed with him through Hera. It was what made him useful.

Then suddenly their defacto leader had fallen into Tartarus along with her second. Instead of following Annabeth’s lead, Jason was stuck trying to hold the crew together - despite the fact that Hazel and Frank clearly had an issue with him, despite the fact that he was in no position to help Nico. He was no longer a kinda useful guy helping out wherever he was needed, now he probably came across like he was gunning for leadership, when really he was just desperate to hold the crew together.

He was tossing knives at the ceiling when Piper found him, a couple days after Venice, where once again, he’d had to stick around and do nothing. Sure it was because he was the only guy who could get a strike on a Ventus, but flitting around like some pissy fairy stabbing wind spirits with anger issues while his friends bargained with gods and gained blessings and fought monsters was hardly a fantastic boost of spirit.

He still didn’t know why he had an intense urge to carry knives around with him. Knives were for smaller, subtler warriors, and although he fully respected people who chose to wield knives as their primary weapon, they weren’t really his thing. As far as he was concerned, if he was close enough to stab it with a knife smaller than his forearm, he was close enough to run it through with a sword.

Even so, without fail, every time he kitted himself up for battle, he tucked an oyster knife in each boot, strapped a Ka-Bar to his left thigh, a Celtic long knife to his right, and a throwing dagger to each forearm. One time he’d ignored the desire to arm himself so thoroughly, seeing as he rarely used the knives in a fight. He’d been wracked with such intense panic that he’d been rendered practically useless the whole time, and Piper had made him swear to never leave them behind again. There was a bag under the bed with at least three spares per type of knife, just in case he lost one. He’d tried messing with what type it was as well, and although it wasn’t quite the same raw panic that flooded his system that time, he’d been spooked enough not to try it again.

“Hey sparky.” Piper smiled, head poked in the doorway. “Leo’ll kill you if he finds out you’re using his ceiling as a dartboard.”

He smiled at her tiredly. “I’m pretty sure he added the cork padding layer just so I could use it as a dartboard.”

“Oh, probably.” She laughed and walked in. “So what’s gotcha worried?

“I just..I feel kinda useless..I guess. I can’t help Nico, who’s apparently a really good friend of mine, who just went through literal hell, and seemed so comfortable talking to you all until I shoved my nose in it. I can’t take charge, even though I feel like I should, and honestly, i don’t even want to. I can’t even get Hazel to look at me, and Frank’s stopped talking to me. And, every time I try to use my powers for anything stronger than a mild breeze, I feel like there’s some kind of block in my brain. I tried to summon a lightning bolt last night, to see if I could do it outside of the heat of battle, and..nothing.“

“Oh, sparky..” Piper sat next to his head, and started stroking his hair. “Which of those is the most worrying, right now?”

“My powers.” He responded automatically, then faltered. “Or maybe Frank and Hazel..or maybe Nico. I don’t know. If I can’t use my powers, or I get distracted trying to do things that I can’t seem to do anymore, then that would be really dangerous. But if Hazel and Frank don’t trust me, then that could really fuck with the team dynamic..and..if I can befriend Nico again, I might understand everything else.”

“How about you start with asking Hazel why she’s still mad, hm? You apologised for what you said about Nico, so it’s probably not that, and he seemed fine talking to you until you mentioned Persephone. Maybe it’s hard for him that you remember that he’s close to his step-mom, but not that you were friends?”

“I didn’t think about that. Thanks, Pipes. But Hazel...She won’t even look at me.” He threw an oyster knife so hard it sunk fully into the cork ceiling, and didn’t fall down even after they spent a minute staring at it.

Jason sat up and scrubbed a hand over his face. “I need to go talk to her, don’t I?”

“Yeah.” Piper manoeuvred his head into her lap. “Hazel’s amazing, though. And so are you. You’ll be best friends in no time.”

He laughed bitterly, then forced out a happier one when concern flickered across Piper’s face. “Don’t worry.” He smiled tightly. “I’ll figure it out. I just want to remember.”

“I know.” She leaned down to kiss his forehead. “You’ll figure it out, Jace.“

——

Jason was mere feet away from Hazel, ready to approach and ask for time alone to talk some stuff out, when they hit the turtle.

He’d thought he had enough reasons to hate the ocean. For starters, it was his Uncle’s realm, and if Neptune liked him as much as Jupiter liked Percy, he’d sooner take his chances standing in front of the ballistae while the Coach was in one of his bad moods. Second of all, it was far too big, which sounded kind of stupid, but it covered most of the planet, and they had no fucking clue what was in it. As far as Jason was concerned, if he _could_ be only a few hundred feet above something the size of a city bus, yet not be able to see it, nothing could convince him that he _wasn’t_ a few hundred feet above something the size of a city bus. Knowing his luck, there was a godsdamned pack of creatures the sixe of a city bus a few hundred feed below them. They probably had a hundred teeth, each as long as he was tall. Now there was a turtle the size of a fucking island rocking the boat around, which did absolutely nothing to assuage his fears.

Luckily, adrenaline kicked in pretty quickly, and Jason threw himself off the side of the boat, and attempted to stab it between the eyes, to no avail. He kept at it until Leo yelled that he had an idea, and grabbed Coach Hedge.

Somehow, despite the literal bag full of knives stashed under his bed for the off chance that he lost one, he’d not even considered the possibility of losing his sword. Watching it fall into the ocean after Hedge’s struggling, Jason kind of wanted to throttle himself. And the coach. Definitely the coach.

He watched dazedly as Piper and Hazel managed to drive it off a bit while the ship pulled into a strait, trying to process the fact that he’d managed to lose his fucking sword, barely taking in the way the ship bounced across the waves until Piper brought it up.

“Leo, since when do we have jet propulsion?”

“Aw, you know..” Leo attempted a modest look, but fell short. “Just a little something I whipped up in my spare time. I just wish I coulda given you a bit longer.”

“You managed to roast the turtle’s head,” Jason grinned at him. “So what now?”

“Kill it!” Coach yelled, looking indignant. “You even have to ask? We got enough distance, we got ballistae. Lock and load, demigods!”

He frowned. “Coach, first of all, you made me lose my sword.”

“I didn’t ask for an evac, flyboy!” 

“Second.” He continued, with a stern glare. “I don’t think the ballistae will do any good. The shell is like Nemean Lion skin. It’s head isn’t any softer.”

“So we chuck one right down it’s throat,” Coach replied eagerly, “like you guys did with the shrimp thing in the Atlantic. Light it up from the inside.”

Frank scratched his head. “Might work. But then you’ve got a five million-kilo turtle carcass blocking the entrance to the straights. If we can’t fly with the oars broken, how do we get the ship out?”

The two kept sniping at each other until Nico interrupted. “Guys!” He called, still up in the mast. “About sailing in the other direction? I don’t think that’s going to work.”

They all swivelled to follow his line of sight. A quarter mile ahead of them, the long rocky strip of land curved in to meet the cliffs. “We’re not in a strait.” Jason said. “We’re in a dead end.”

The polecat that had been with them since Hecate sat on her haunches and stared at Hazel. “This is a trap.” She said. 

They turned to look at her.

“Nah, it’s fine.” Leo waved a hand. “Worst that happens, we make repairs. Might take the night, but I can get us back in the air.”

The turtle roared from where it was at the mouth of the inlet, seemingly incapable of coming in further.

“Well...” Piper shrugged. “At least the turtle can’t get us. We’re safe here.”

The second she said it, Jason’s whole body went on high alert. There was nothing more likely to piss off the Fates than a brazen suggestion that you were safe. It was like insulting their ability to keep you in constant peril. 

And arrow sank into the mainmast, six inches from Piper’s face.

“Piper, duck!” Jason whispered harshly as the crew scattered, Piper frozen in place.

“Up there,” Frank called, stood studying the angle of the bolt. He pointed to the top of the cliff. “Single shooter. See him?” 

It took a moment for Jason’s eyes to focus against the glare of the sun, but sure enough, he could make out a tiny figure stood on the top of the ledge, bronze armour glinting.

“Who the fuck is that?” Leo demanded. “Why is he firing at us?”

“Guys?” Piper’s voice was thin and weary. “There’s a note.”

Jason didn’t know how he hadn’t noticed the parchment scroll tied to the arrow shaft. Hazel stormed over and untied it.

“Uh, Hazel?” Leo asked cautiously. “Are you sure that’s safe?”

“First line: stand and deliver.”

Coach Hedge started ranting under his breath, but Hazel took no notice. “There’s more: This is a robbery. Send two of your party to the top of the cliff with all your valuables. No more than two. Leave the magic horse. No flying. No tricks. Just climb.”

“Climb what?” Piper asked, a moment before Jason could ask the same thing.

“There.” Jason turned to where Nico was pointing. A narrow set of stairs were carved into the cliff, leading all the way up. The perfect set up.

“I do mean all your valuables.” Hazel continued. “Otherwise my turtle and I will destroy you. You have five minutes.”

“Use the catapults!” Coach cried.

“P.S.” Hazel added. “Don’t even think about using your catapults.”

“Curse it! This guy is good.” The Coach sulked.

“Is the note signed?” Jason hadn’t even noticed Nico climbed down from the rigging, until the guy was stood next to Frank, twisting his skull ring.

Hazel shook her head, eyebrows furrowed like she was thinking. 

Leo and Frank grumbled to each other, Jason couldn’t hear most of it, but he overheard words like trajectory and pincushioned.

“Um..” His attention was dragged back to Piper, who nudged the arrow that was stuck in the mast. “I have a feeling he’s a good shot. I don’t think he meant to hit me. But if he did..”

She didn’t need to continue. Whoever the robber was could hit a target from hundreds of feet away. He could shoot them all before they could react.

“I’ll go.” Hazel said.

Frank gripped his bow. “Hazel-“

“No, listen. This robber wants valuables. I can go up there, summon gold, jewels, whatever he wants.” Her logic was sound, Jason had to admit.

Leo raised an eyebrow. “If we pay him off, you think he’ll actually let us go?”

“We don’t have much choice.” Nico replied. “Between that guy and the turtle..”

Jason raised his hand before he’d fully processed his decision. “I’ll go too.” He said once the others had fallen silent. “The letter says two people. I’ll take Hazel up there, and watch her back. Besides, I don’t like the look of those steps. If Hazel falls..well I can use the winds to keep us both from coming down the hard way.”

Honestly, he kind of hated the idea, and himself for coming up with it. He couldn’t imagine anything worse than watching the six of someone who didn’t trust him. Hazel was angry at him, for something, but Piper had said it wasn’t about what he’d said about Nico, and he couldn’t think of anything else. He remembered her, faintly, but it was more a beaming smile and a rush of brotherly affection rather than any specifics. Whatever he’d done to cause this, and he was sure there was something, Hazel wasn’t the type to invent reasons to be mad, it wasn’t something he remembered at all.

He knew it was the best option anyway.

“I have to, Arion.” Hazel said, breaking him out of his reverie. “Jason..yes. I think you’re right. It’s the best plan.” She looked about as happy about it as he was.

“Only wish I had my sword.” Jason shot a glare at the coach. “It’s back there at the bottom of the sea, and we don’t have Percy to retrieve it.”

He knew he shouldn’t really have invoked Percy’s name just to get at Hedge, but the words were out before he could stop them. No one said anything, but the mood on deck darkened.

Hazel stretched out her arm, and Jason’s blade flew out of the water and into her hand. “Here.” She said, handing it over.

Jason’s eyes widened. He knew she was powerful, could sense it deep in his bones, but that was a whole new level, and the presence in the back of his mind told him he should feel proud of what she’d just done. He shook it off. “How..that was like half a mile!”

“I’ve been practicing.” She said.

He didn’t think so. She’d said it too nonchalantly, like she was trying to downplay it, rather than celebrate the fruit of labour, but he let it slide.

“Now, if there are no other objections, we have a robber to meet.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone cares; yes I imagine the presence in Jason’s mind As a bright orange worm on a string


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sciron, Hazel and Jason bonding, dad!Pluto

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! About an hour early but oh well. Here, have some sad Jason, even if we’ve not dug down into all his issues yet, lol, some nice Hazel/Jason bonding, and dad!Pluto bc let’s be real the second Jason and reyna agreed to be his friends Nico would’ve dragged them to meet cerberus. Bold is Greek, asides when used in the middle of a bold-italics bit, in which case it’s emphasis, and vice versa.Bold-italics is latin

Jason liked heights. He liked the great outdoors. According to the hints and flashes of memories Juno seemed to be allowing him, he also liked Hazel.

But climbing a two hundred foot cliff on a stairway without rails with an angry Hazel Levesque who had an even angrier weasel on her shoulder?

No thanks.

He stayed behind her so he could catch her if she fell, and his heart almost stopped when Hazel glanced to her right, and almost slipped.

“You all right?” He asked.

“Yes.” Hazel nodded, looking a bit shaky. “Fine.”

She didn’t look at him, and although she simply kept climbing, something told Jason she’d rather _anyone_ else was with her.He wanted to be okay with that, wanted to be able to shrug off the way she’d been avoiding him since the beginning of this gods forsaken quest, but the questions he’d been about to ask her before the turtle instant hadn’t gone away.

“Hazel?” He finally asked, tapping his fingers against his thigh nervously.

“ _Yes_ , Jason?” Hazel’s voice was taught, like she was resisting the urge to whirl around angrily.

“I um. I just wanted to apologise. For whatever I did before I left that hurt you. I..Juno hasn’t returned many of my memories, so I’m afraid I don’t know what I did. But I really am sorry. And I’m sorry for what I said about Nico.”

“I’m not mad about Nico.” She said after a moment of silence. “Now that he’s safe, after you really did run into a trap..I can see your caution was a good idea. I’ve known Reyna say things nobody wanted to hear, and Nico, too. I know the praetor has to have those thoughts nobody wants to think, so that the rest of us don’t have to. And..and so we have someone to be angry with, for even thinking those things, instead of being angry with ourselves. I’m not mad about that.”

“So I did something? Before I..left?” Jason hated how small and defeated his voice came out. “Was it bad?”

“No!” Hazel shook her head. “I’m just..look..some of it is just me being protective of my brother and Reyna. You three..you were _JasonReynaNico_ , y’know?” She said _JasonReynaNico_ like it was one word - a single entity. The presence at the back of his mind preened. “Everyone was terrified of you and Reyna, but you always said they should be more scared of Nico, because not only is he just as powerful as you, but the two of you would burn the world down so he could toast a marshmallow.”

“If..” He scuffed his shoe. “Why hasn’t he said anything to me? Why don’t I remember?” His voice cracked. “Why can’t I remember?”

“I can’t speak for your memory, but the reason we’ve..avoided you, I guess, is..” She took a deep, shaky breath, and let out something akin to a sob. “Because it _hurts_.” She stopped climbing and turned around precariously, face streaked with tears he hadn’t heard her cry. “It’s hard for me to talk to you, and you were just my brother’s bo-best friend. We trained together, we were friends, but we weren’t close and it still hurts to talk to you and know you don’t know anything about us! Nico..you guys were so close..he _knows_ you would hurt yourself trying to force your friendship, and he lo..he’d never do that to you. It hurts him less to stay away.”

To his horror, Jason’s throat felt thick, and his eyes burned. “But..but you two..you could tell me about myself. I don’t know _anything_ , Hazel. Thalia had to tell me when my birthday was!”

“January twenty eighth, and October fourth.” Hazel replied flatly, like it was obvious.

“ _What_? No it’s July first. How would I have two birthdays?” He cocked his head, completely thrown.

She smiled. It was small, and shaky, but he appreciated it nonetheless. “Nobody knew your birthday. According to the veterans, you showed up when you were six, absolutely feral. Lupa held onto you from when you were two, and you spoke Latin more fluently than English. When Nico and Reyna became your friends, they gave you presents on their birthdays. At least..they planned to. You didn’t know Nico for a full year, but he’d already bought the present when you left. On Reyna’s birthday, Nico got you a little wolf, like Aurum and Argentum, but made of copper, and Reyna got you a broadsword that sheaths on your back. It’s beautiful.”

He wasn’t crying. Absolutely not. His shoulders were shaking because it was cold, and his tears were because of the wind.

She rested a hand on his shoulder gently. “Nico won’t talk to you because you’re one of the four most important people in the world to him. He gave you, and Reyna, and me..he gave us all of himself, and now he’s lost the pieces he trusted you to look after. You can’t give him them, so he needs time to get them back himself.”

“But-“ Jason was cut off by a bullet grazing past him, slicing his bicep open. “ _Fuck_!” He clapped his other hand over the graze. “Ambrosia.” He ground out. “Bandage.”

“Hurry up!” A voice yelled from the top of the cliff. “Or I start shooting your friends.”

“One minute!” Hazel called back, voice sweet and promising, if a little shaky. “My friend loses blood easily so I just need to patch him up!”

She practically crammed a square of ambrosia into his mouth, then poured a tiny bit of nectar onto a bandage before wrapping it securely around the graze. After a moment he could feel his skin knitting itself back together, until the red that had been blooming on the bandage stopped spreading.

“I hope it scars.” Jason mused absently, voice tight with pain as he motioned for Hazel to begin the ascent again. “Reyna will never believe I got shot if I don’t have a scar.” 

Hazel rolled her eyes. “You mean a scar will make the Legion even more scared of you?”

He shifted uncomfortably. “Were they really _that_ scared of me?”

“They liked you, but you’re tall, powerful, and extremely..muscular.” She started walking again. “Same for Reyna. Everyone knows you’re both really good people, but you both get angry quite easily. You never took anyone’s shit. That’s why Nico was basically an honorary _praetor_. He didn’t have any say in the decisions like you two, not until after you left, but if people had to tell you bad news, they’d request him to be in the room, because he calms you down.”

Jason thought that over as they neared the top of the cliff. “What about if he got angry too?”

Hazel laughed, sharp and brittle. “Jason, if my brother had asked you to bring him the head of someone who’d displeased him, you would’ve asked what kind of metal he wanted the platter it was served on to be, and Reyna would’ve asked if it needed to be at all recognisable.”

“This..uh..this controlling the Mist.” Jason said eventually, unsure of how to respond to _that_. “Have you had any luck?”

“No.” Hazel admitted, seemingly happy to go along with the change of topic.

“You’ll get it.” Jason said. His tone surprised himself. He sounded truly convinced, and after a moment’s consideration, he realised that he was. If there was anyone that could grab onto the barrier between reality and the magical world and make it their bitch, it was Hazel Levesque.

“How can you be sure?” She asked her.

“Just am. I’ve got a good instinct for what people can do - demigods, at least. Hecate wouldn’t’ve have picked you if she didn’t believe you had power. Plus, you’re a child of the big three, Hazel. You’re every inch as powerful as me, Percy, and Nico. Honestly I’d put my money on you over us any day, seeing as you’re the only one of us with brain cells.”

Hazel’s shoulders relaxed only by a margin, but she laughed, bright and carefree. Just as she started to respond, the rim of the cliff came into view. Jason scanned their surroundings as soon as they made it to the top, but saw no one.

“Where-“

“Here!” A voice said. Jason whipped around to see a man, only ten feet away, a bow and quiver over his shoulder and two old fashioned flintlock duelling pistols in his hands. His curly black hair and sparkly green eyes reminded Jason viscerally of Percy, even with the red bandana covering the lower half of his face.

“Welcome!” The bandit cried, pointing his gun at them. “Your money or your life!”

“Who are you?” Hazel asked.

The bandit laughed. “Sciron, of course!”

“Chiron?” Jason asked, confused. “Like the centaur?” 

The bandit rolled his eyes, squinting slightly like he was scowling. “Sky-Ron, my friend. Son of Poseidon! Thief extraordinaire! All-around awesome guy! But that’s not important. I’m not seeing any valuables!” He grinned, as if this was excellent news, all signs of displeasure washed alway. “I guess that means you want to die?”

“Wait,” Hazel said. “We’ve got valuables. But if we hand them over, how can we be sure you’ll let us go?”

“Oh they always ask that.” Sciron complained. “I promise you, on the _River Styx_ , that as soon as you surrender what I want, I will not shoot you. I will send you right down that cliff.” Well that was a promise full of loopholes if ever Jason heard one. Hazel gave him a wary look, like she was thinking the same thing.

“What if we fought you?” He asked. “You can’t attack us and hold our ship hostage at the same time.”

_BANG! BANG!_

It happened so fast that by the time Jason’s body thought to flinch, smoke was already curling around the left side of his face. One of Sciron’s flintlocks was still pointed at him. The other was pointed down, over the side of the cliff, as if his second shot had been fired at the Argo II.

Hazel made a choked sound. “What did you _do_?”

“Oh don’t worry!” Sciron laughed. “If you could see that far - which you can’t - you’d see a hole in the deck between the shoes of the big young man, the one with the bow.”

“Frank!”

Sciron shrugged. “If you say so. That was just a demonstration. I’m afraid it could have been much more serious.”

He spun his flintlocks. The hammers reset, and Hazel looked even more uneasy.

Sciron waggled his eyebrows at Jason. “So! To answer your question - yes, I can attack you and hold your ship hostage at the same time. Celestial bronze ammunition. Quite deadly to demigods. You two would die first - bang, bang. Then I could take my time picking off your friends on that ship. Target practice is so much more fun with live targets running around screaming!”

Jason touched his fingers to the new groove that the bullet had ploughed into his hair. Shot twice in one day. _Fuck_ but this guy was good. Inhumanly good.

Hazel seemed to have the same thought. “You’re a son of Poseidon?” She got out, sounding sick. “I would’ve thought Apollo, the way you shoot.”

The smile lines deepened around his eyes. “Why, thank you! It’s just from practice, though. The giant turtle - that’s due to my parentage. You can’t go around taming giant turtles without being a son of Poseidon! I could overwhelm your ship with a tidal wave, of course, but it’s terribly difficult work. Not nearly as fun as ambushing and shooting people.”

“Uh..what’s the bandanna for?” Hazel asked. Jason hoped to Olympus she was stalling as she thought of a plan, because he had absolutely nothing.

“So no one recognises me!” Sciron said.

“But you introduced yourself,” Jason said slowly, feeling like he was talking to a young child. “You’re Sciron.”

The bandit’s eyes widened. “How did you - Oh. Yes. I suppose I did.” He lowered one pistol and scratched his head with the other. “Terribly sloppy of me. Sorry, I’m afraid I’m a little rusty. Back from the dead and all that. Let me try again.”

He levelled his guns. “Stand and deliver! I am an anonymous bandit and you do not need to know my name!”

“Theseus.” Hazel said, seemingly out of nowhere. “He killed you once.”

Sciron’s shoulders slumped. “Now, why did you have to mention him? We were getting along so well!”

Jason frowned. “Hazel, you know this guy’s story?”

She nodded, face scrunched in concentration, reminding him of... Like always, the thought dissipated, leaving him unsettled and oddly nostalgic. “Theseus met him on the road to Athens. Sciron killed his victims by, um..”

“Theseus was such a cheater!” Sciron’s brow was creased in anger. “I don’t want to talk about him. I’m back from the dead now. Gaia promised me I could stay on the coastline and rob all the demigods i wanted, and that’s what I’m going to do! Now.. where were we?”

“You were about to let us go,” Hazel tried.

“Hmm...” Sciron scratched his head with his pistol again. “No. I’m pretty sure that wasn’t it. Ah, right! Money or your life. Where are your valuables? No valuables? Then I’ll have to-“

“Wait,” Hazel held a hand up. “I have our valuables. At least, I can get them.”

Sciron pointed a flintlock at Jason’s head. He hoped to the gods Hazel had an idea, getting shot by this idiot for a third time would be beyond embarrassing. “Well, then, my dear, hop to it, or my next shot will cut off more than your friend’s hair!”

Hazel didn’t appear to need to concentrate at all. After only a moment of her fists clenched next to her thighs, the ground rumbled, and immediately yielded a bumper crop - precious metals popping to the surface until they were knee deep in treasure.

Sciron laughed with delight. “How in the _world_ did you do that?”

Hazel didn’t answer, and her face scrunched in thought again. The presence in the back of Jason’s mind insisted that expression was familiar, but before he could dwell on it, Hazel seemed to crumple.

“Just take the treasure,” she said. “Let us go.”

Sciron chuckled. “Oh, but I did say all your valuables. I understand you’re holding someone very special on that ship... a certain ivory-and-golf statue about, say, forty feet tall?”

Jason stepped forward, hoping he looked even a fraction as stern and imposing as he wanted to. “The statue isn’t negotiable.”

“You’re right, it’s not!” Sciron agreed. “I must have it!” 

“Gaia told you about it,” Hazel guessed. “She ordered you to take it.”

Sciron shrugged. “Maybe. But she told me I could keep it for myself. Hard to pass up that offer! I don’t intend to die again my friends. I intend to live a long life as a very wealthy man!”

“The statue won’t do you any good,” She pressed. “Not if Gaia destroys the world.”

The muzzles of Sciron’s pistols wavered. “Pardon?”

“Gaia is using you,” Hazel continued. Jason decided that he was best off just glaring menacingly. “If you take that statue, we won’t be able to defeat her. She’s planning on wiping all mortals and demigods off the face of the earth, letting her giants and monsters take over. So where will you spend your gold, Sciron? Assuming Gaia even lets you live.”

Damn Hazel was good. Sciron was silent for a count of ten, before his eyes crinkled again in a smile. “All right!” He said. “I’m not unreasonable. Keep the statue.”

Jason blinked. “We can go?”

“Just one more thing,” Sciron said. “I always demand a show of respect. Before I let my victims leave, I _insist_ that they wash my feet.”

Jason resisted the urge to curse out every god he could think off right there and then, as Sciron kicked off his leather boots, one after the other. He almost threw up at the sight of them; puffy, wrinkled, and white as dough, as though they’d been soaking in formaldehyde for centuries. Tufts of hair sprouted from each misshapen toe, and his jagged toenails were green and yellow, like a tortoise’s shell.

Then the smell hit, and it was all Jason could do to stop himself gagging.

“So,” Sciron wiggled his disgusting toes. “Who wants the left and who wants the right?” 

He felt the colour drain from his face. “You’ve... _got_ to be kidding.”

“Not at all!” Sciron said. “Wash my feet, and we’re done. I’ll send you back down that cliff. I promise on the _River Styx_.” 

“Could we have a moment?” Hazel asked the bandit.

Sciron’s eyes narrowed. Jason tried to stop his face from showing similar surprise. “What for?”

“Well it’s a big decision.” She said. “Left foot, right foot. We need to discuss.”

Sciron relaxed a little. “Of course,” he said. “I’m so generous you can have two minutes.”

Hazel led Jason about fifty feet down the cliff. “Sciron kicks his victims of the cliff.” She whispered. 

Jason scowled. “What?”

Hazel recoiled slightly, and Jason did his best to relax his face into something slightly less threatening.

“When you kneel down to wash his feet,” she said, still looking uncomfortable. “That’s how he kills you. When you’re off-balance, woozy from the smell of his feet, he’ll kick you over the edge. You’ll fall right into the mouth of his giant turtle.”

Jason took a moment to digest that. He glanced over the cliff, where the turtle’s massive shell glinted just under the water. “So we have to fight,” he said.

“Sciron’s too fast.” Hazel shook her head. “He’ll kill us both.”

“Then I’ll be ready to fly. When he kicks me over, I’ll float halfway down the cliff. Then when he kicks you, I’ll catch you.”

“If he kicks you hard and fast enough, you’ll be too dazed to fly. And, even if you can, Sciron’s got the eyes of a marksman. He’ll watch you fall. If you hover, he’ll just shoot you out of the air.”

“Then..” Jason clenched his sword hilt while instinctively allowing the throwing knife sheathed under his sleeve to slide into his hand to try and stave off the intense need to arm himself. “I hope you have another idea?”

A few feet away, the weasel that had been following Hazel around appeared from the bushes. She gnashes her teeth, and Hazel’s face fell.

Jason watched as she visibly steeled herself. “Unfortunately, yes.” She said. “We have to let Sciron win.”

“What?” Jason demanded.

Hazel told him the plan.

——

“Finally!” Sciron cried. “That was much longer than two minutes!”

“Sorry,” Jason said. “It was a big decision...which foot.”

He stepped forward, his hands open in surrender. “I’ll go first, Sciron. I’ll wash your left foot.”

“Excellent choice!” Sciron wriggled his hair, corpse-like toes. Jason fought down the urge to retch. “I may have stepped on something with that foot. It felt a little squishy inside my boot. But I’m sure you’ll clean it properly.”

Jason could feel his cheeks burn with anger and embarrassment. He shoved down into the raw well of power in his torso, and began the struggle for control. He just needed something - a bolt of lightning, a burst of torrential rain - anything.

“Sciron,” Hazel broke in, and Jason felt himself lose grip of the power he’d started to dredge up. “Do you have water? Soap? How are we supposed to wash-“

“Like this!” Sciron spun his left flintlock. Suddenly it became a squirt bottle with a rag. He tossed it to Jason.

Jason squinted at the label. The letters were stark and bold, which helped, but the bottle was a brilliant white, and the letters some awful shade of yellow that seemed to be doing its level best to play tricks with his dyslexia. “You want me to wash your feet with glass cleaner?” He managed after a minute.

“Of course not!” Sciron knitted his eyebrows. “It says multi-surface cleanser. My feet definitely qualify as multi-surfaces. Besides, it’s antibacterial. I need that. Believe me, water won’t do the trick on these babies.” He wiggled his toes again, and more zombie café odour wafted across the cliffs.

Jason gagged. “Oh, gods, no..”

Sciron shrugged. “You can always choose what’s in my other hand.” He hefted his right flintlock, and for a second Jason seriously considered letting him shoot.

“He’ll do it,” Hazel said, before he could fully decide whether he was willing to die over it.

Jason glared at her, but she was right, and he knew it, so he relented after a moment. “Fine.” He muttered.

“Excellent! Now...” Sciron hopped to the nearest chunk of limestone that was big enough to play footstool. He faced the water and planted his foot, so he like like some explorer who’d just claimed a new country. “I’ll watch the horizon while you scrub my bunions. It’ll be much more enjoyable.”

“Yeah,” Jason said. “I bet.”

He knelt in front of the bandit, at the edge of the cliff. A jagged spike of panic tore through him at how vulnerable he was. That broadsword Hazel had mentioned was starting to sound more and more appealing. He squirted the cleaning fluid, and wiped Sciron’s big toe with his rag, then turned aside to gag, eyes watering.

Sciron slammed his foot into Jason’s chest, and he tumbled backwards over the edge, making a big show of flailing his arms and screaming. Hazel was right, though, it took more concentration than he had anticipated to force the winds to catch him, winded and disoriented as he was.

He flew around so he was hovering behind Hazel as she revealed her illusion.

“Stand and deliver,” Hazel told him.

Jason swooped our of the sky, and body-slammed the bandit over the cliff, with a level of satisfaction that scared him, slightly. 

“Hazel, that was amazing. Seriously.. Hazel? Hey, _Hazel_?”His grin faded, and he watched as Hazel collapsed to her knees, and she became fuzzy and distorted, like static that one time he and Reyna and..Nico, _maybe_? Had snuck out of Rome and spent the night in a hostel with a shitty tv.

Frost crept across the rocks and grass around them. A man, _no_ , he was definitely a god, dressed in Roman style appeared next to them, although Hazel didn’t seem to be seeing anything. He had close-cropped dark hair, and his angular fade was clean shaven. His tunic and toga were of black wool, embroidered with threads of golds. The faces of tormented souls shifted in the fabric, and the edge of his toga was lined with the crimson of a senator or a praetor, but the stripe rippled like a line of blood. On his ring finger was a massive opal, like a chunk of polished frozen Mist.

The resemblance to Nico was absolutely uncanny. The presence in the back of Jason’s mind could easily imagine his fellow praetor like that, exuding a cold, regal type of confidence, adorned in jewels and trapped souls. Nico would be different though; his hair would still curl around his ears, silky and soft, and his eyes, although shattered, would be kinder than Pluto’s, and less manic. Nico wouldn’t wear a ring that big, he’d think it was gaudy. He’d wear something smaller, probably with some romantic, meaningful inscription engraved inside, and the jewel would be a simple cornflower sapphire, like the ones he’d always said looked like Ja- Jason shook the image off, unsure of where on Earth it had come from. He knelt and bowed his head respectfully, hoping to _Mars_ his cheeks weren’t as inflamed as they felt. “Lord Pluto.”

The god chuckled, rich and deep. When he spoke, it was in Latin. “ _ **Jason Grace. Why you must have changed much, to kneel before me. Stand, my friend**_.”

“ _ **My Lord**_?” Jason dared to look up, then stood, at Pluto’s encouraging nod, mind racing a mile a minute. Gods above did it feel good to talk properly in Latin again. Since when was he _Pluto’s friend_?

The amusement was wiped from his face, but instead of looks angry, or stern, the god just looked.. sad. _**“Son of Jupiter, you first visited the Underworld in accompaniment of my son and the daughter of Bellona. As I recall, you summoned a thunderstorm in my wife, Prosperine’s garden, because while we were Iris Messaging, it was raining where she was, and you thought it would help us feel closer. Our..well, our friendship, I suppose, continued much in that vein. You and my wife were close as siblings should be, and you are one of the two most important people in the world to my son, asides his sister. Do you know what it means to be protected by the Underworld?”**_

Jason shook his head slowly, barely able to process what was being said.

Pluto’s face darkened to a scowl, forming a mirror image of his son. _**“It means Juno had no right to do what she did to you. The laws she has broken may not be**_ **ancient** _ **, but they are laws just the same. I cannot discuss it much, and I know it means little to you now, but know this, Jason: She will not go unpunished. You may be her champion, but few mortals have ever called my palace home, and I will not allow her to get away with taking that from you.”**_

Jason’s eyes burned again, and he had some strange, intense desire to cry freely, as though he wasn’t stood in front of the King of the Underworld. The presence in the back of his mind insisted he would be comforted, not mocked. 

Pluto sighed and shook his head _ **. “I am summoned by pride in my daughter, but my love for my son, and my.. fondness first you, draw me to address you, also. Tell Nico that I cannot speak to him on that boat, but that his mother, uncle, and I miss him dearly, and that our protection still stands. Juno will pay for this, Jason Grace.” Pluto rested a hand on his shoulder. “I will not allow such a slight on my family, even if you do not remember being such.”**_ He smiled sadly _ **. “Child of Rome..”**_

Pluto squinted slightly, and his form flickered. For a moment, he was bearded, with a crown of gold laurels, and skeletal hands broke through the earth around him. “ **Or is it child of _Greece_**?” He stabilised once more, all sign of the skeletal hands gone. “No matter. Remind my boy that our House stands for justice just as yours does.”

“ _ **Sir**_?”

 _ **“If justice is not served to you, either of you**_..” Pluto ruffled his hair, and Jason could’ve sworn his smile was fond and fatherly.

“ _ **It is your divine birthright to**_ **exact** _ **it**_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you don’t want to write a proper comment, but have already left kudos, emojis are a great way to let me know you’re still enjoying it!


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason has dream, and learns about Nico’s past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This time of the week, kids :)

Jason fell asleep on the job. Which was bad, since he was a thousand feet in the air. 

He should’ve known better. It was the morning after their encounter with Sciron the bandit, and Jason was on duty, fighting some wild venti who were threatening the ship, despite the fact that he’d gotten maybe a solid five minutes of sleep, and had spent the rest of the night laying awake, thinking about what Pluto had told him. 

When he slashed through the last ventus, he forgot to hold his breath. 

It was a rookie mistake, the kind of screw up he’d allow trainees to make if they got cocky to show them that you couldn’t let your guard down until you were safely inside the border of Camp Jupiter, that just because you thought you’d killed a monster, it doesn’t mean the monster doesn’t have one past trick. 

As expected, the pressure in his inner ear dropped out so fast he blacked out, and plunged right into a dream. 

He found himself standing on the roof of a tall building, the night-time skyline of Manhattan spreading around him. A cold wind whipped through his clothes. 

A few blocks away, clouds gathered above the Empire State Building - the entrance to Mount Olympus itself. Lightning flashed, and the air was metallic with the smell of oncoming rain, and he allowed himself a brief moment of rest surrounded by his element. The top of the skyscraper was lit up as usual, but the lights seemed to be malfunctioning. They flickered from purple to orange, as if the colours were fighting for dominance. 

On the roof of Jason’s building stood his old comrades from Camp Jupiter: an array of demigods in combat armour, their Imperial gold weapons and shields glinting in the dark. He saw Dakota and Leila - Nico’s best friends, if his memory served, which it probably didn’t -, Nathan and Marcus. Octavian stood to one side, thin and pale, his eyes red rimmed from sleeplessness or anger, a string of sacrificial stuffed animals around his waist. His augur’s white robe was draped over a purple T shirt and cargo pants.

In the centre of the line stood Reyna, her metal dogs Aurum and Argentum at her side. Upon seeing her, Jason felt a desperate need to hug her, as tight as possible, let her shield him from the world for just a moment, or maybe grovel at her feet. They’d fired on the Forum, and then run away, leaving Reyna with a war on her hands, and not even Nico left to help her. 

In his dream she looked tired. Others might not notice, but this was his best friend, she could shift a shoulder and he would take on a Titan, knowing whatever she planned to do would assure their victory. Just the crease in her brow and the way her hair was still wet told Jason everything he needed to know - Reyna was exhausted. 

The Romans stared at the roof access door, as if they were waiting for someone.

When the door opened, two people emerged. One was a faun - _no_ , Jason thought - _a satyr_. He’d learned the difference at Camp Half Blood, and Coach Hedge was always correcting him if he made that mistake. Roman fauns tended to hang around and beg and eat. Satyrs could be totally badass, according to Percy and his tales of his and Annabeth’s quests with a satyr called Grover. Jason was pretty sure this guy was from the Greek side. No faun would look so purposeful walking up to an armed group of Romans in the middle of the night. 

He wore a green Nature Conservancy T shirt with pictures of endangered animals, but nothing covered his shaggy legs and hooves. He had a bushy goatee, curly brown hair tucked into a Rasta-style cap, and a set of reef piped around his neck. He fidgeted, like he was nervous, but the way he studied the Romans, noting their positions and weapons, spoke volumes about the combat he must’ve seen. 

At his side was a red headed girl that Jason recognised from Camp Half Blood - their oracle, Rachel Elizabeth Dare. She had long frizzy hair, a plain white blouse, and jeans covered with hand-drawn ink designs. She held a blue plastic hair rush that she tapped nervously against her thigh like a lucky talisman. 

Jason remembered her from the campfire, reciting the prophecy that had sent Jason, Piper, and Leo on their first quest together. She was a regular mortal teenager - not a demigod - but, for reasons Jason never understood, the spirit of Delphi had chosen her as its host.

The real question: What was she doing with the Romans? 

Rachel stepped forwards, eyes fixed on Reyna. “You got my message.” 

Octavian snorted. “That’s the only reason you made it this far alive, Graecus. I hope you’ve come to discuss surrender terms.”

“Enough.” Reyna commanded. “We have no designs on your camp. I’ve been in regular contact with Nico di Angelo. I understand he, our _Praetor Tempus_ , and Percy Jackson, one of your unofficial leaders, are close?” 

Close? Percy had talked about Nico, sure, but none of it had sounded flattering. In fact, from the look in Percy’s eyes, he’d sooner strangle Nico than hug him.

“Yeah.” The satyr grinned nervously. “They hate each other, but they love each other.” 

“At least search them!” Octavianprotested, eyes narrowed. 

“No need,” Reyna dismissed, studying Rachel Dare. “Do you bring weapons?” 

Rachel shrugged. “I hit Kronos in the eye with this hairbrush once. Otherwise, no.” 

The Romans didn’t seem to know what to make of that, asides Reyna, who looked like she was watching a promising new recruit. 

“And your friend?” She nodded to the satyr. “I thought you were coming alone.” 

“This is Grover Underwood,” Rachel said. “He’s a leader of the council.” 

Damn. Jason kind of wanted to get Grover’s autograph, and congratulate him for years of keeping Percy alive. From the version of Percy’s stories that Annabeth had told him, whilst they poured over blueprints and maps night after night, the satyr stood practically in front of Jason had single handedly recruited every single Greek child of the Big Three - including Nico, even if he had ended up Roman, and kept Percy and Annabeth alive long enough to save Olympus.

“What council?” Octavian demanded. 

“Cloven Elders, man.” Grover’s voice was high and reedy, as if he were terrified, but Jason was pretty sure he had more steel than he let on. “Seriously don’t you Romans have nature and trees and stuff? I’ve got some news you need to hear. Plus, I’m a card-carrying protector. I’m here to, you know, protect Rachel.”

Reyna looked like she was trying not to smile. “But no weapons?” 

“Just the pipes.” Grover’s expression became wistful. “Percy always said my cover of “ _Born to be Wild_ ” should count as a dangerous weapon, but I don’t think it’s that bad.”

Octavian sneered, but wisely chose not to say anything.

“Be warned, Rachel, Grover, if you start to lie, this conversation will not go well for you. I have information for you, also, but say what you came to say first.” 

From her jeans pocket, Rachel dug our a piece of paper like a napkin. “A message. From Annabeth.” 

Jason wasn’t sure he’d heard her right. Annabeth was in Tartarus. She couldn’t send anyone a note on a napkin. 

_Maybe I’ve hit the water and died_ , his subconscious mused. _This isn’t a real vision. It’s some sort of after-death hallucination._

But the dream seemed very real. He could feel the wind sweeping across the roof. He could smell the storm, and the static crackling through the air was filling him with energy.

Reyna took the note. As she read it, her eyebrows crept higher. Her mouth parted in shock. Finally, she looked up at Rachel. “Nico told me about Tartarus, he had Senate approval to go there himself, after all, but he couldn’t communicate even through the shadows whilst he was there. How-“

“I don’t know,” Rachel said. “The note appeared in the sacrificial fire at our dining pavilion. That’s Annabeth’s handwriting. She asks for you by name.”

Octavian stirred. “Tartarus? What do you mean?” 

Jason watched Dakota and Leila roll their eyes in unison. Reyna stared at him with pure contempt. “Do you not remember, Augur, when our dear _Praetor_ received permission from the Senate to search for the Doors of Death? Did you not consider that if the Doors of Death were being used to carry monsters, that they may be located at the home of said monsters?” 

Octavian flushed, and Rachel and Grover clearly fought not to laugh, before Grover’s expression changed. “Hold up. Nico di Angelo went into Tartarus? By himself?” 

Reyna raised an eyebrow. “Do you doubt the abilities of one of the best soldiers of New Rome?” 

“Nico is a soldier of New Rome? Nevermind, I’ll find out later. Nico, moody goth kid with one _hell_ of a death glare? Went into the only place entirely unexplored by anyone? He made it out? Zeus almighty, I bet Percy told him to take care of himself and he went _fuck you_ , _I’ll do what I want_ , and threw himself in.” 

Jason half expected Reyna to deck him right there and then. Something told him that Reyna would put herself between Nico and the world in a heartbeat. Instead, she laughed. “From what Nico has told me, and from the few letters I’ve seen, yes, that could have been a factor.” 

Grover squinted. “They’re still in contact? We haven’t seen Nico since..” he hummed. “The battle of Manhattan? Maybe a few weeks after? I guess I should’ve known, when Nico was actually missing, my empathy link with Percy was a constant mess. But honestly, it was even worse when the kid was around and Percy was trying to bully Nico into being a semi functioning human being, but I thought the he’d just..dropped off the grid.” 

“His relationship with Percy Jackson is..complicated.” Reyna admitted, with a half smile. “But until Percy stopped answering his letters, they were in regular contact. Letters twice a week, and Nico would go for lunch with Percy and..Sally Jackson? Once a month. He kept going to visit Mrs Jackson even after Percy disappeared, if he could clear an afternoon.”

Grover opened his mouth to speak, but Reyna waved him off. 

“He would’ve helped with the search, but Percy stopped responding at the same time that our best friend and fellow Praetor went missing. Jason Grace, he ended up with you? Nico stepped up to lead New Rome. He couldn’t have gotten away long enough to help, otherwise he would’ve. He went to Tartarus as much for Percy as he did for us.” She consoled gently. “When Percy showed up in New Rome and didn’t remember him, it almost broke him. When Jason did the same..well..Tartarus.” She shrugged helplessly, before composing herself. 

“Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano,” Rachel started, calm and quiet, seemingly uninterested in their conversation. Jason felt like he’d been slapped. No one ever used Reyna’s full name. He’d only ever said it once, just to try the pronunciation, and she’d beat him so thoroughly in a sparring match that he’d had bruises for a fortnight. 

“Annabeth is wise. She believes you can do what she has asked. You should pray to Pluto and Poseidon for safe passage. They are anxious to see their sons safe, and that may be enough to draw their consciouses enough for aid. A Roman leader returning the most important Greek statue to Camp Half Blood - Annabeth knows that could prevent a war.” 

The greyhounds didn’t react. Reyna stroked Aurum’s head thoughtfully. “The Athena Parthenos..so the legend is true.” 

“Reyna!” Octavian cried. “You can’t seriously be considering this! Even if the statue still exists, you see what they’re doing. We’re gaining ground, we could destroy the stupid Greeks once and for all - and they concoct this stupid errand to divert your attention. They want to send you to your death!” 

The other Romans muttered, glaring at their visitors. Jason remembered how persuasive Octavian could be, and he wad winning the officers over to his side, even if Dakota and Leila didn’t look incredibly convinced. 

Rachel Dare faced the augur. “I would remind you that the Romans respected your ancestor’s Oracle of Delphi, but I have no need. Should Nico di Angelo find out you have reneged on your promise to leave Camp Half Blood be, he will carry out justice as he sees fit. The Seven will assist, whether they be Greeks, revenging their fallen family, or Romans following their _Praetor_ into battle, and you will experience the fury of the Big Three walking amongst men. The Houses of Jupiter and Pluto are Houses of Justice, Legacy. If it is not exacted whilst you are on this place, the Prince of the Underworld is fully capably of having you answer for your crimes once you are his subject.”The wind shifted and swirled around the Romans with a hissing sound, like a nest of snakes. Rachel Dare glowed with a green aura, as if hit by a soft emerald spotlight. Then the wind faded, and the aura was gone. 

Octavian had paled drastically, from mildly concerning to a more post-mortem shade. It only served to make the red of his eyes more prominent. 

“It’s your decision,” Rachel said, as if nothing had happened. “I have no specific prophecy to offer you, but I can see glimpses of the future. I see the Athena Parthenos on Half Blood Hill. I see her bringing it.” She pointed star Reyna. “Also, Ella has been murmuring lines from your Sibylline Books-“

“What?” Reyna interrupted. “The Sibylline Books were destroyed centuries ago.” 

“I knew it!” Octavian pounded his fist into his palm. “That harpy they brought back from the-“

The dream started to twist and morph, only words and phrases making it through. Jason heard Rachel predict Gaea rising everywhere, and Reyna agreeing to find them, as well as her reference to Split. Then suddenly Nico was standing in front of him, breathless, eyes wide with a horror the rest of his face wasn’t conveying.

“You need to wake up.” He demanded. “Now. You’re falling, Piper’s yelling, and if you die whilst I’m in your conscience, I might die too, so _**WAKE UP**_!” Piper’s voice spoke with him, and the command washed over Jason. 

His eyes snapped open, and he saw the ocean’s surface rushing towards him. 

——

Jason survived - barely.

Later, once they’d finished berating him for his idiocy, his friends explained that they hadn’t seen him falling from the sky until the last second. There was no time for Frank to turn into an eagle and catch him; no time to formulate much of a rescue plan.

Only Piper’s quick thinking and charmspeak, as well as Nico’s apparent ability to force himself into someone else’s subconscious, had saved his life. The combined effort left Jason feeling like he’d been hit with defibrillator paddles. With a millisecond to spare, he’d summoned the winds and avoided becoming a floating patch of demigod grease on the surface of the Adriatic, with the aftereffects of charmspeak still thrumming in his veins, and the image of Nico’s wide, pleading eyes still firmly imprinted on his eyelids.

Back on board, he pulled Leo aside and suggested a course correction, trying to make eyes at Nico to pull him aside for conversation. He needed to know about Nico’s relationship with Percy, needed to know if he was remembering what Reyna was referring to correctly, needed to know if he’d been as trusting with Jason as he apparently had with Reyna.

Fortunately, Leo trusted him enough not to ask why. 

“Weird vacation spot.” He grinned. “But hey, you’re the boss.”

Now, sitting with his friends in the mess hall, Jason felt so awake he doubted he would sleep for a week. His hands were jittery. He couldn’t stop tapping his feet. He guessed that this was how Leo felt all the time, except that Leo had a sense of humour.

After the curveball thrown in his dreams, he didn’t feel much like joking.

While they ate lunch, Jason reported on his midair vision, skipping for now what Grover and Reyna had said about Nico and Percy. His friends were quiet long enough to finish a peanut butter and banana sandwich, along with the ceramic plate.

The ship creaked as it sailed through the Adriatic, its remaining oars still out of alignment from the giant turtle attack. Every so often Festus creaked and squeaked through the speakers, reporting the autopilot status in that weird machine language that only Leo could understand.

“A note from Annabeth,” Piper said finally, shaking her head in amazement. “I don’t see how that’s possible, but if it is-“

“She’s alive. Thank the gods and pass the hot sauce.”

Frank frowned. “What does that mean?”

Leo wiped the chip crumbs off his face. “It means pass the hot sauce, Zhang. I’m still hungry.”

Frank slid over a jar of salsa. “I can’t believe Reyna would try to find us. It’s taboo, coming to the ancient lands. She’ll be stripped of her _praetorship_.”

All eyes turned to Nico, who was intently studying a piece of paper, until Hazel nudged him.

He looked up, eyes slightly frantic. “Oh. Um. Yeah, Rey’s prayed to my dad, and Percy’s dad, for guidance. Poseidon is gonna protect her Pegasus, dad is gonna do his best to keep monsters off her back. As far as _praetorship_..two of the three current _praetors_ of New Rome are already in the ancient lands. Before all of this..we were a trio. Jay-um, Jason was brawn, Rey was brains, I was whatever else needed covering. Usually stealth. Asides Octavian,” his lip curled in distaste. “The senate are probably just happy that she’s coming to keep us alive.”

Piper frowned. “How do you know all that? Were you going to tell us?”

Nico’s cheeks flushed. “I know because Reyna sent me a letter. And honestly? Probably not, if you didn’t ask.” 

Before anyone could push further on that front, Jason turned to him. “Reyna and Grover...in my dream, they said that you and Percy were really close, before all of this? But the way Percy spoke about you..well I certainly wouldn’t have guessed that.”

Instead of curling into himself, or shuttering, like Jason expected, Nico snorted. “Oh, he was probably just still mad about me pretending I didn’t know him.” He waved a hand flippantly. “Or maybe he’s still hung up on me giving his mom a skeleton cat for her birthday, I’ve got no idea.”

They all stared at him. His cheeks flushed further.

“We have a love-hate relationship. He saved my life, I entrusted him with my sister’s life, my sister died, I saved his life, my dead sister sent him iris messages to check up on me,he thought I was trying to kill him to resurrect Bia...” he paused, face twisted in thought.

“Then I tried to convince him to make himself invincible, I accidentally got him arrested, he tried to kill me, I got him to make himself invincible, he left me in the underworld, I dragged three gods and an army to the Battle of Manhatten to help him. We have the same issues of power that we don’t understand, and that others fear, and his experiences at school are similar to my experiences at camp. Children of the big three...if we don’t hate each other, we become incredibly close.” His eyes flickered to Jason, something hurt and broken lurking in the dark of them. “He got me off the streets, made me eat, sleep. I..I didn’t get to repay him for that.” He looked away.

Hazel rested her hand on his shoulder encouragingly.

“Anyways.” Nico gave a brief half smile that did nothing to hide how suddenly tired he looked. “Reyna’ll make it. If there was anyone that could do it, it would be her.”

Jason nodded his agreement. “She’s a total badass.”

“Easily more capable than all of us plus Percy combined.” Nico added.

Piper circled her spoon through her soup. Jason hoped she wasn’t jealous of Reyna. He was pretty sure there had been nothing between them, even if he was maybe beginning to feel like there might have been something between him and someone else.

She gave him a dry smile. “Well I’d love to see Reyna again,” she said. “But how is she supposed to find us?”

Frank raised his hand. “Can’t you just send her an Iris-message?”

“They’re not working very well,” Coach Hedge put in. “Horrible reception. Every night, I swear, I could kick that rainbow goddess..”

He faltered. His face turned bright red.

“Coach?” Leo grinned. “Who have you been calling every night, you old goat?”

“No one!” Hedge snapped. “Nothing! I just meant-“

“He means we’ve already tried,” Hazel intervened, and the coach gave her a grateful luck. “Some magic is interfering..maybe Gaia. Contacting the Romans is even harder. I think they’re shielding themselves.”

“Hazel’s right.” Nico admitted. “I have the last letter from Rey, but I think it only got through because of dad’s blessing. I haven’t been able to get anything back through. Every letter I’ve tried to send through the shadows since Sciron has bounced back.”

Frank drummed his fingers on the table. “I don’t suppose Reyna has a cell phone...? Nah. Never mind. She’d probably have bad reception on a Pegasus flying over the Atlantic.”

Jason thought about the Argo II’s journey across the ocean, the dozens of encounters that had nearly killed them. Thinking about Reyna making that journey alone - he couldn’t decide whether it was terrifying or awe-inspiring.

“She’ll find us,” he said. “She mentioned something in the dream - she’s expecting me to go to a certain place on our way to the House of Hades. I-I’d forgotten about it, actually, but she’s right. It’s a place I need to visit.”

Piper leaned towards him, her caramel braid falling over her shoulder. Her multicoloured eyes made it hard for him to think straight.

“And where is this place?” She asked.

“Split.” Nico answered for him. His voice was like a rush of cold water, shocking him out of Piper’s enthral.

“Yeah..uh..Split.” Jason agreed. “In fact, we should be getting close. Leo?”

Leo punched the intercom button. “How’s it going up there, buddy?”

Festus the figurehead creaked and steamed.

“He’s says maybe ten minutes to the harbour,” Leo relayed. “Though I still don’t get why you want to go to Croatia, especially a town called Split. I mean, you name your city Split, you gotta figure it’s a warning to, you know, Split. Kind of like naming your city Get Out!”

“Wait,” Hazel said. “Why are we going to Croatia?”

Leo pushed his chips and hot sauce aside. “Well, technically we’ve been in Croatian territory for the past day or so. All that coastline we’ve been sailing past is it, but I guess back in the Roman times it was called..what’d you say, Jason? Bodacious?”

“Dalmatia,” Nico said, suddenly stood in the corner. He stepped forward, dark eyes fluttering everywhere but Jason.

Since they’d rescued him from the bronze jar in Rome, for a few days, Nico had slept very little and eaten even less, as if he were still subsiding on those emergency pomegranate seeds from the underworld. Jason was glad to see he’d managed to put a bit of weight on, no longer reminding him of a flesh-eating ghoul he’d once fought in San Bernardino.

“Croatia used to be Dalmatia,” Nico said. “A major Roman province. You and Rey always talked about visiting Diocletan’s Palace. That’s where you want to go.” It was a statement, not a question.

Coach Hedge managed another heroic belch. “Whose Palace? And is Dalmatia where those Dalmatian dogs come from? That 101 Dalmatians movie - I still have nightmares.”

Frank scratched his head. “Why would you have nightmares about that?”

Coach Hedge looked like he was about to launch into a major speech about the evils of cartoon Dalmatians, but Jason decided he didn’t want to know.

“Nico is right,” he said. “I need to go to Diocletian’s palace. It’s where Reyna will go first, because she knows I would go there.”

Piper raised an eyebrow. “And why would Reyna think that? Because you’ve always had a mad fascination with Croatian culture?”

Jason stared at his uneaten sandwich. It was hard to talk about his life before Juno wipes his memory. His life at Camp Jupiter seemed made up, like a movie he’d acted in decades before. Admittedly it was easier to recall events that had happened at least two years ago, like there was something in his recent past that Juno didn’t want him accessing.

“Reyna and I used to talk about Diocletian,” he said. “We both kind of idolised the guy as a leader. We talked about how we’d like to visit Diocletian’s Palace. Of course we knew that was impossible, it’s in the ancient lands. But we still made this pact that if we ever did that’s where we’d go.”

“Diocletian...” Leo considered the name, then shook his head. “I got nothing. Why was he so important?”

Frank looked offended. “He was the last great pagan emperor!”

Leo rolled his eyes. “Why am I not surprised you know that, Zhang?”

“Why wouldn’t I? He was the last one who worshipped the Olympian gods, before Constantine came along and adopted Christianity.”

Hazel nodded. “I remember something about that. The nuns at St Agnes taught us that Diocletian was a huge villain, right along with Neto and Caligula.” She looked askance at Jason. “Why would you idolise him?”

“He wasn’t a total villain,” Jason said. “Yeah he persecuted Christians, but otherwise he was a good ruler. He worked his way up from nothing by joining the legion. His parents were former slaves..or at least his mom was. Demigods know he was a son of Jupiter - the last demigod to rule Rome. He was also the first emperor  to ever retire, like, peacefully, and give up his power. He was from Dalmatia, so he moved back there and built a retirement palace. The town of Split grew up around..”

He faltered when he looked at Leo, who was mimicking taking notes with an air pencil.

“Go on, Professor Grace!” He said, wide-eyes. “I wanna get an A on the test!”

“Shut up, Leo.”

Piper sipped another spoonful of soup. “So why is Diocletian’s Palace so special?”

Nico now had a coffee thermos in his hands, steaming gently. “It’s said to be haunted by the ghost of Diocletian.”

“Man, is that Starbucks?” Leo asked. Nico’s eyes flickered to him, and he nodded once, curtly, before he motioned for Jason to start talking.

“Diocletian was a son of Jupiter. Like me,” Jason said. “His tomb was destroyed centuries ago, but Reyna and I used to wonder if we could find Diocletian’s ghost and ask where he was buried...well, according to the legends, his sceptre was buried with him.” 

Nico smiled into the lid of his thermos. “So that’s why you and Rey brought me in on the pact.” He mused, eyes shining with a manic kind of fire.

“What do you mean?” Hazel asked, before Jason could.

Nico turned to his sister. “Supposedly, Diocletian’s sceptre could summon the ghosts of the Roman legions, any of them who worshipped the old gods. According to what I know of the dead sworn to Ares, Orcus, and other such gods, I’d say they have to be controlled by a Roman officer. But to get the dead there? You’d need a god or me to raise them.”

“What about Hazel?” Piper asked, glancing at her friend.

Nico shook his head. “We have different powers. Like how Percy could summon a tsunami and erupt volcanoes, but Frank can shape-shift. Hazel embodies one of Pluto’s spheres of influence; wealth, riches, earth. I embody the other; death, shadows, hell. There are overlaps, I have some minor geokinesis, and Hazel can shadow travel, but it’s a lot harder. Asking Hazel to summon an army of the undead in a month’s time is like asking to do what she did with Jason‘a sword.”

Leo whistled. “Army of the undead? Okay, now I’m interested. Be nice to have a booty-kicking army of pagan zombies on our side when we enter the House of Hades.”

“Not sure I would’ve put it that way,” Jason muttered, “but yeah.”

“We don’t have much time,” Frank warmed. “It’s already July ninth. We have to get to Epirus, close the Doors of Death-“

“Which are guarded,” Hazel murmured, “by a smoky giant, and a sorceress who wants to..” she hesitated. “Well, I’m not sure. But according to Pluto, she plans to “rebuild her domain.” Whatever that means, it’s bad enough that my dad felt like warning me personally.”

Frank grunted. “And, if we survive all that, we still have to find out where the giants are waking Gaia, and get there before the first of August. Besides, the longer Percy and Annabeth are in Tartarus-“

“I know,” Jason said, watching in concern as Nico flinched hard enough at the mention of Tartarus that he spilt his coffee. He could see the exposed skin it hit turn red, but Nico didn’t seem to register the heat. He wondered how many burns Nico must’ve gotten before he could brush off that kind of thing. “We won’t take long in Split. But looking for the sceptre is worth a try. While we’re at the palace, j can leave a message for Reyna, letting her know the route we’re taking for Epirus.”

Nico nodded. “The sceptre of Diocletian could make a huge difference. You’ll need my help. Plus I have my own messages for Reyna.”

Jason tried not to show his delight. He still needed to talk to Nico about what Pluto had said, plus he was desperate for a chance to find out something about himself. Anything that Nico was willing to share, even if it was as mundane as Jason’s coffee order.

He was also curious about Nico. Percy had shared some disturbing stories, but listening to Reyna, Grover, and Nico himself..maybe that was just the way Percy and Nico were with each other. Maybe the weird look in Percy’s eyes when he’d talked about Nico had been fondness, not the incredulousness at Nico’s previous actions that Jason had previously assumed.

Piper squeezed his hand. “Hey, sounds fun. I’ll go, too.”

Jason couldn’t think of a way to ask her not to come, but he knew this needed to just be him and Nico, they had far too much to discuss, and Jason would bet his every material possession that Nico wouldn’t spill in front of Piper.

Luckily, Nico shook his head. “You can’t, Piper. It should only be Jason and me. Diocletian’s ghost might appear for a son of Jupiter, but any other demigods would most likely..ah, spook him. And I’m the only one who can talk to his spirit.”

Nico still wouldn’t meet Jason’s eyes.

The ship’s bell sounded. Festus creaked and whirred over the loudspeaker.

“We’ve arrived,” Leo announced. “Time to Split.”

Frank groaned. “Can we leave Valdez in Croatia?”

Jason stood. “Frank, you’re in charge of defending the ship. Leo, you’ve got repairs to do. The rest of you, help out wherever you can. Nico and I..” he faced the son of Hades. “We have a ghost to find.”


	5. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two bros..going on a field trip..five feet apart because even though they’re gay one of them doesn’t remember the other :/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back folks! please let me know if you spot any typos/inconsistencies, and feel free to ask any questions about the timeline or my headcanons for this universe - or share your own :)

Jason was determined to get to know something about Nico whilst they were having their little field trip. 

The Argo II had anchored in the bag along with six or seven cruise ships. As usual, the mortals didn’t pay the trireme any attention, but, just to be safe, Jason and Nico hopped on a skiff from one of the tourist boats so they would look like part of the crowd when they came ashore. 

At first glance, Split seemed like a cool place. Curving around the harbour was a long esplanade lines with palm trees. At the sidewalk cafés, teenagers are ere hanging out, speaking a dozen different languages and enjoying the sunny afternoon. The air smelled of grilled meat and fresh-cut flowers.

Beyond the main boulevard, the city was a hodgepodge of medieval castle towers, Roman walls, limestone town houses with red-filed roofs, and modern office buildings all crammed together. In the distance, green hills marched towards a mountain ridge, which made Jason a little nervous. He kept glancing at the rocky escarpment, expecting the face of Gaia to appear in its shadows. 

“So,” he started awkwardly, unsure of how to talk to his supposed best friend. “Um. You said you and Percy had a weird relationship?” 

Nico blinked at him, confusion bleeding through the mask he’d slapped on as soon as it had become clear they’d be going together. “Oh. Yeah. I guess. Not really as much anymore, but we had a rocky start.” 

“What do you mean by that?” Jason pressed gently, trying not to seem too eager.

“Well, erm, my sister died. And I was young, and stupid, and I blamed him for it. I don’t know if I ever told him it wasn’t his fault..” His eyes glazed over, but after a second he shook himself and looked away from Jason. “We fought a lot, but I think..he _says_ I made it up to him, when I came to fight with Hades and Persephone and Demeter. And he replied to my letters when I came to New Rome, and he let me go for dinner once a month to see Sally and Paul. So I think he must have meant it.” 

“I’m sure he must have.” Jason smiled. “You’re a good g-“

“Don’t.” Nico’s voice was cold, and his mask had snapped firmly back into place. “You don’t remember me. You suggested leaving me to suffocate in a jar made ofor a god. I know it was a strategic move, and it makes sense, but you never would have made that call before all this. Not about _me._ ” His voice cracked slightly. “I know you don’t remember anything, so do me a favour, and act like it. I don’t have the capacity to make you feel better right now.”

Jason recoiled back, the presence in the back of his mind insisting that this was wrong, that Nico shouldn’t look him like that, all tight jaw and hurt eyes. “I’m, I wasn’t- I didn’t mean to.” He stammered, tripping over his words in a poor attempt to redeem himself, as his cheeks burned miserably. “I just..I was trying to get to know you better? I- erm, I know you’re a good guyfrom what I’ve seen since Percy and Annabeth.. I’m sorry.”

Nico opened his mouth as if to respond, but Jason saw the angel before he could get a single word out. The guy was buying an ice-cream bar from a street cart, russet wings spread out. The vendor looked bored as she counted the guy’s change, and tourists navigated around the angel’s huge wings without a second glance.

“Are you seeing this?” Jason moved to nudge Nico, but stopped himself before he made contact. “The guy with wings?”

Nico nodded curtly. “Ice cream?”

As they made their way down towards the street cart, Jason worried that this winged dude might be a son of Boreas, the North Wind. At his side, the angel carried the same kind of jagged bronze sword the Boreads had, and Jason’s last encounter with them hadn’t gone so well.

But this guy seemed more chill than chilly. He wore a red tank top, Bermuda shirts, and hitachi sandals. His winds were a vision in red, like a rooster or a lazy sunset. He had a deep tan, and black hair almost as curly as Leo’s.

“He’s not a returned spirit,” Nico murmured. “Or a creature of the Underworld.”

“No,” Jason agreed. “I doubt they would eat chocolate covered ice-cream bars.”

Nico shot him a sly smile that made Jason feel like he’d won something. “You’d be surprised.” He murmured, before he schooled his expression, as if remembering that he didn’t like Jason. “So what is he?” He asked after an awkward pause.

They got within thirty feet, and the winged dude looked directly at them. He smiled, gestured over his shoulder with his ice cream, and dissolved into the air.

Jason couldn’t exactly see him, but he’d had enough experience controlling the wind that he could track the angel’s path - a warm wisp of red and gold zipping across the street, spiralling down the sidewalk and blowing postcards from the carousels in front of the tourist shops. The wind headed towards the end of the promenade, where a big fortress-like structure loomed.

“I’m betting that’s the palace,” Jason said. “come on.”

Even after two millennia, Diocletian’s Palace was still impressive. The outer wall was only a pink granite shell, with crumbling columns and arched windows open to the sky, but it was mostly intact, a quarter mile long and seventy or eighty feet tall, dwarfing the modern shops and houses that huddled beneath it. Jason imagines what the palace must have looked like when it was newly built, with Imperial guards walking the ramparts and the golden eagles of Rome glinting on the parapets.

The wind angel - or whatever he was - whisked in and out of the pink granite windows, then disappeared on the other side. Jason scanned the palace’s face for an entrance. The only one he saw was several blocks away, with tourists lined up to buy tickets. No time for that.

“We’ve got to catch him,” Jason said. “Hold on.” 

“But-“

Jason grabbed Nico and lifted them both into the air. Instead of protesting or shaking, or reacting in any way at all similarly to what he’d expected- his guilt at grabbing someone so explicity uncomfortable with him was already building - Nico _relaxed_ into his grip, and he was struck with the notion that they must have done this before. A _lot_ , according to the way Nico automatically flattened himself against Jason, streamlining them. 

A little kid did a double take when they landed in the courtyard of tourists taking pictures, but his eyes quickly glazed over and he shook his head, like he was dismissing a juice-box-induced hallucination. No one else paid them any attention. Jason tried not to notice how comfortably Nico fit against him, or how empty his chest felt when Nico stepped away.

On the left side of the courtyard stood a line of columns holding up weathered grey arches. On the right side was a white marble building with rows of tall windows. 

“The peristyle,” Nico said. “This was the entrance to Diocletian’s private residence.” He scowled at Jason. “And please, I don’t like being touched by most people. Don’t ever grab me again.”

Jason’s shoulder blades tensed. He thought he heard the undertone of a threat, like: u _nless you want to get a Stygian sword up your nose._ He ignored the part of his mind insisting that he should be someone Nico was okay with touching. “Uh, okay. I’m sorry. Um. How do you know what this place is called?”

Nico scanned the atrium. He focused on some steps in the far corner, leading downs

“I’ve been here before.” His eyes were as dark as his blade, and as strangely fascinating. “With my mother and Bianca. A weekend trip from Venice. I was maybe...six?”

“That was when..the 1930s?”

“Thirty-eight or so,” Nico said absently. “Why do you care? Do you see the winged guy anywhere?” 

“No..” Jason scrambled for something to say to keep the conversation going. Nobody else had known him as well as Nico and Reyna, apparently. He just wanted a friend who could tell him what had changed and what hadn’t and who he’d been, and Nico was right _there_ , not even giving him a chance.

“I just..I can’t imagine how weird that must be, coming from another time.”

“Can’t you?” Nico cocked his head, gaze laser sharp.

Jason made a noise of confusion and motioned for him to expand.

Nico inhaled slowly, and closed his eyes. After a moment, he fixed Jason with a cool stare. “Everything you’ve told me about your transition from the Wolf House to New Rome says you can. Do you remember that?”

He nodded slowly, unsure of the direction Nico was taking the conversation. “I don’t remember telling you. But I remember arriving at Camp if that’s what you mean?”

“Yeah. Well, you told me that Lupa mainly spoke Latin with you, and wasn’t interested in developing your social or English skills. You spent four years with her, much longer than any other demigod, because there was no way for a two year old to find their way to camp. You can barely write, even now, because of how long it took the Romans to even realise you needed schooling, and you were so powerful and useful that they didn’t spent much time on that anyway. As far as I can see it, we were both young, powerful demigods coming from somewhere outside of the mortal realm, with little memory of our former lives, with English as our second language.”

“I can write,” Jason protested, crossing his arms defensively as his ears burned. “I can write.” He repeated, voice small and hurt. He sounded like he was convincing himself, even to his own ears.

Nico’s face softened - barely, but it was something - and when he spoke, his voice was gentle. “I know, Jay, um, _Jason_. But it’s hard, right? Your wrist hurts after a couple lines, and it’s barely legible? You prefer typing?” 

“I..I guess..” he gave a mulish shrug. “How do you, Uh, how do you even know about that?”

“ _Praetors_ have paperwork to do, and I took calligraphy classes in Italy.” Was also he said, before he tensed, eyes sweeping over the windows above them.

“Roman dead are everywhere here..” Nico murmured, in a tone that dragged forward memories of him in a black toga, addressing the Senate - cool and calm, but dangerous too. “Lares. _Lemures_. They’re watching. They’re angry.”

“At us?” Jason’s hand went to his sword, the other hovering by the knife on his thigh. 

“At everything.” Nico pointed to a small stone building on the west end of the courtyard. “That used to be a temple to Jupiter. The Christians changed it to a baptistery. The Roman ghosts don’t like that.”

Jason stared at the dark doorway.

He’d never met Jupiter, had long gotten over his desire to, although he knew he’d spent some years obsessed with meeting his father, but he thought he’d come to terms with the idea that his dad was immortal, worshipped, king of the Gods - Heavens knew it had followed him around at Camp. Now though, he wasfaced with a doorway Romans had walked through, thousands of years ago, to worship _his_ dad. The idea gave Jason a splitting headache.

“And over there..” Nico pointed east to a hexagonal building ringed with free standing columns. “That was the mausoleum of the emperor.”

“But his tomb isn’t there any more,” Jason guessed.

“Not for centuries,” Nico said. “When the empire collapsed, the building was turned into a Christian cathedral.”

Jason swallowed. “So if Diocletian’s ghost is still around here-“

“He’s probably not happy.”

The wind rustled, pushing leaves and food wrappers across the peristyle. In the corner of his eyes, Jason caught a glimpse of movement - a blur of red and gold.

When he turned, a single rust-coloured feather was settling on the steps that led down.

“That way.” Jason pointed. “The winged guy. Where do you think those stairs lead?”

Nico drew his sword. His smile was unsettling, but it made the presence at the back of Jason’s mind preen. “Underground,” he said. “My favourite place.”

——

Underground was _not_ Jason’s favourite place.

Ever since his trip beneath Rome with Piper and Percy, fighting those twin giants in the hypotenuse under the Colosseum, most of his nightmares had been about basements, trapdoors, and large hamster-wheels.

Having Nico along was reassuring, although his Stygian iron blade seemed to make the shadows even gloomier, as if the infernal metal was drawing the heat and light out of the air. Jason was still burning with questions, but what little Nico had told him was comforting, and he was starting to understand how they could’ve been friends. If he was going to have anyone accompany him back underground to meet a ghost, Nico was probably the best candidate.

They crept through a vast cellar with thick support columnsholding up a vaulted ceiling. The limestone blocks were so old they had fused together from centuries of moisture, making the place look almost like a naturally formed cave.

None of the tourists had ventured down here. Obviously they were much smarter than demigods.

Jason drew his _gladius_. They made their way under the low archways, only Jason’s steps echoing on the stone cold floor. If Jason closed his eyes, he was pretty sure he could forget Nico was even there. Barred windows lined the top of one wall, facing the street level, but that just made the cellar feel more claustrophobic. The shafts of sunlight looked like slanted prison bars, swirling with ancient dust.

Jason passed a support beam, looked to his left, and almost had a heart attack. Staring right at him was a marvel bust of Diocletian, his limestone face glowering with disapproval.

“Here,” he called to Nico, trying to steady his breathing. This seemed like as good a place as any to leave the notes they’d written for Reyna, about their route to Epirus. It was away from the crowds, but they’d both agreed that Reyna would be able to find the envelope wherever they decided to put it. He slipped the note between the bust and it’s pedestal and stepped back.

Diocletian’s marble eyes made him jumpy. Jason couldn’t help thinking of Terminus, and he was shooting a smirk at Nico before he could tamp down the urge. Luckily, Nico just gave him a thin but amused smile, and didn’t comment on it. He only hoped the statue wouldn’t start barking orders, or, Jupiter forbid, burst into _song_.

“Hello!”

Before Jason could register where the voice had come from, he sliced off the emperor’s bear. The bust toppled and shattered against the floor.

“That wasn’t very nice,” said the voice from behind them.

Jason turned. The winged man from the ice-cream stand was leaning against a nearby column, casually tossing a small bronze hoop in the air. At his feet sat a wicker picnic basket full of fruit.

“I mean,” the main said, “what did Diocletian ever do to you?”

The air swirled around Jason’s feet. The shards of marble gathered into a miniature tornado, spiralled back to the pedestal, and reassembled into a complete bust, the envelope still tucked underneath.

“Uh-“ Jason lowered his sword. “It was an accident. You startled me.”

The winged dude chuckled. “Jason Grace, the West Wind has been called many things.. warm, gentle, life-giving, and devilishly handsome. But I have never been called _startling_. I leave that crass behaviour to my gusty brethren in the north.”

Nico inched backwards. “The West Wind? You mean you’re-“

“Favonius,” Jason realised. “God of the West Wind.”

Favonius smiled and bowed, obviously pleased to be recognised. “You can call me by my Roman name, certainly, or Zephyros, if you’re Greek. I’m not hung up about it.”

Nico looked pretty hung up about it. “Why aren’t your Greek and Roman sides in conflict, like the other gods?”

“Oh, I have the occasional headache.” Favonius shrugged. “Some mornings I’ll wake up in a Greek chiton when I’m _sure_ I went to sleep in my SPQR pyjamas. But mostly the war doesn’t bother me. I’m a minor god, you know - never really been much in the limelight. The to-and-fro battles among you demigods don’t affect me as greatly.”

“So..” Jason wasn’t quite sure whether or not it was safe to sheathe his sword. Nico had lost what little colour he usually had. “What are you doing here?”

“Several things!” Favonius said. “Hanging out with my basket of fruit. I always carry a basket of fruit. Would you like a pear?”

“I’m good. Thanks.”

“Let’s see...earlier I was eating ice cream. Right now I’m tossing this quoit ring.” Favonius spun the bronze hoop on his index finger.

Jason had no idea what a _quoit_ was, but he tried to stay focused. “I mean why did you appear to us? Why did you lead us to this cellar?” 

“Oh!” Favonius nodded. “The sarcophagus of Diocletian. Yes. This was its final resting places the Christians moved it out of the mausoleum. Then some barbarian destroyed the coffin. I just wanted to show you - “ he spread his hands sadly - “that what you’re looking for isn’t here. My master has taken it.”

“Your master?” Jason had a flashback to the floating palace above Pike’s Peak in Colorado, where he’d visited (and barely survived) the studio of a crazy weatherman who claimed he was the god of all the winds. “Please tell me your master isn’t Aeolus.”

“That airhead?” Favonius snorted. “No of course not.”

“He means Cupid.” Nico’s voice was edgy, and the slanted beams of light only lent themselves to the shattered look in his eyes.

Favonius smiled. “Very good, Nico di Angelo. I’m glad to see you again, by the way. It’s been a long time.”

Nico knitted his eyebrows. “I’ve never met you.”

“You’ve never _seen_ me,” the god corrected. “But I’ve been watching you. When you came here as a small boy, and several times since. I knew eventually you would return to look upon my master’s face.”

Nico looked like he had when they’d first rescued him from the jar - his eyes seemed to suck light out of the room like his sword did, and he was clenching his jaw so hard Jason almost rubbed his own face in sympathy.. His eyes darted around the cavernous room as if he was starting to feel trapped.

“Nico?” Jason said. “What’s he talking about?”

“I don’t know. Nothing.”

“Nothing?” Favonius cried. “Even now, you do not allow him the truth, Nico di Angelo?”

The truth? Jason knew there was something being kept from him, something about the last year at Camp Jupiter that Juno didn’t want him to know, that neither Hazel nor Nico seemed eager to tell him about. What in Mars’ name did it have to do with Cupid? Had he been in love with someone his godly step-mom didn’t approve of? Had his heart been broken? Did it have anything to do with how fucking sad Nico di Angelo looked when he thought no one could see him? What could have possibly happened in his last year that two of the three most powerful demigods Jason knew - probably in existence - plus the queen of the fucking gods thought it was best for him not to know?

“We’ve only come for Diocletian’s sceptre,” Nico said, clearly anxious to change the subject. “Where is it?”

“Ah..” Favonius nodded sadly. “You thought it would be as easy as facing Diocletian’s ghost? I’m afraid not, Nico. Your trials will be much more difficult. Although..”

Jason blinked, and Favonius was stood in front of Nico, brushing away what almost looked to be a tear making its way down the younger boy’s cheek. “You have already made great sacrifices in the name of my master, child. Perhaps he will be lenient.”

Jason had no idea what great sacrifices Nico could have made in the name of love, and he didn’t like the sound of difficult trials. He didn’t trust this weird god with the hoop and the wings and the basket of fruit. But an old story surfaced in his mind - something he’d learned at Camp Jupiter. “You carried Pysche, Cupid’s wife, to his palace, didn’t you?”

Favonius’ eyes twinkled. “Very good, Jason Grace. From this exact spot, I carried Psyche on the winds and brought her to the chambers of my master. In fact, that is why Diocletian built his palace here. This place has always been graced by the gentle West Wind.” He spread his arms. “It is a spot of tranquility and love in a turbulent world. When Diocletian’s palace was ransacked-“

“You took the sceptre,” Jason guessed.

“For safekeeping,” Favonius agreed. “It is one of Cupid’s many treasures, a reminder of better times. If you want it..” He turned to Nico. “You must face the god of love. Maybe he does not want what you think he wants. Jason Grace has secrets that may interest my master, also.”

Jason’s mind whirled. He had exactly one secret, one thing he hadn’t told a single person. Somehow he doubted that the god of Romantic Love would be concerned with something as trivial as some random Roman teenager not wanting to do anything with his gorgeous girlfriend - even if most of the single guys Jason had met since he and Piper had gotten together had informed him of just how lucky he was. Any other secret that Jason might possibly have was from his past life, from the year or so before the Switch that hadn’t been fully returned to him. Unless Juno has a sudden change of heart, he wasn’t exactly going to be able to trade it for a sceptre.Granted, he couldn’t of a reason the god of romantic love would be so concerned with the other Roman teenager on his way to meet him either, but Nico probably held more secrets than the rest of both camps combined. If they met Cupid and Nico started spilling godly secrets that even the most up to date Olympian gossip rags didn’t have, Jason wouldn’t be surprised. Something told him that Nico took pride in what he knew, even if a combination of blurry memories and Percy’s stories reminded him that he wasn’t always quick to share that information.

Nico merely stared at the sunlight coming through the windows, as if wishing he could escape through those narrow openings. When he laughed, it was cold and bitter. “I don’t have that kind of luck.” His voice was flat, defeated.

Jason wasn’t sure what Favonius wanted, what sacrifices Nico could possibly have made for love at fifteen, but it couldn’t be that bad, surely. Maybe Nico had done something humiliating with some important person, or a minor goddess. Maybe he’d seen something that Cupid wanted to know about. Maybe, as Favonius suggested, the god would leave Nico alone, and Jason would be the one in the spotlight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to leave emojis to let me know how you’re finding it if you’ve already left kudos :) 
> 
> Also, concerning much later chapters, what do y’all think of aroace Will Solace? Lemme know :)


	6. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Cupid chapter! At long last!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This may not be what you expected/hoped for?
> 
> Trigger Warning: internalised aphobia from Jason, and forced outing by Cupid 
> 
> Also please let me know how you’d feel about some in universe one shots, I’ve already got a couple written (sorry to those who requested some for the Solangelo at Hogwarts fic, this is what I’ve been in the mood for lately) in the comments - do you want to see them?

Jason had ridden the winds many times. Being the wind was not the same.

He felt out of control, his thoughts scattered, no boundaries between his body and the rest of the world. He wondered if this was how monsters felt when they were defeated — bursting into dust, helpless and formless.

Jason could sense Nico’s presence nearby. The West Wind carried them into the sky above Split. Together they raced over the hills, past Roman aqueducts, highways, and vineyards. As they approached the mountains, Jason saw the ruins of a Roman town spread out in a valley below. The crumbling walls, square foundations and cracked roads, all overgrown with grass made it look like a giant, mossy game board.

Favonius set them down in the middle of the ruins, next to a broken column the size of a redwood.

Jason’s body reformed. For a moment it felt even worse than being the wind, like he’d suddenly been wrapped in a lead overcoat. 

“Yes, mortal bodies are terribly bulky,” Favonius said, as if reading his thoughts. The wind god settled on a nearby wall with his basket of fruit, and spread his russet wings in the sun. “Honestly, I don’t know how you stand it, day in and day out.” 

Jason scanned their surroundings. The town must have been huge once. He could make out the shells of temples and bathhouses, a half buried amphitheatre and empty pedestals that must have once held statues. Rows of columns marched off to nowhere. The old city walls weaved in and out of the hillside like stone thread through a green cloth. 

Some areas looked like they’d been excavated, but most of the city just seemed abandoned, as if it had been left to the elements for the last two thousand years.

“Welcome to Salona,” Favonius said, “the capital of Dalmatia! Birthplace of Diocletian! But before that, long before that, it was the home of Cupid.”

The name echoed, as if voices were whispering it through the ruins. 

Something about this place seemed even creepier than the palace basement in Split. Jason had never thought much about Cupid. He’d certainly never thought of Cupid as scary. Even for Roman demigods, the name conjured up an image of a silly winged baby with a toy bow and arrow, flying around in his diapers on Valentine’s Day.

“Oh, he’s not like that,” said Favonius.

Jason flinched. “You can read my mind?” 

“I don’t need to,” Favonius tossed his bronze hoop in the air, “everyone has the wrong impression of Cupid… until they meet him.” 

Nico braced himself against a column, trembling visibly. 

“Hey, man—” Jason stepped towards him, but Nico waved him off. “You sure? You’re not looking so good.”

At Nico’s feet, the grass turned brown and wilted. The dead patch spread outwards, as if poison were seeping from the soles of his shoes. Something told Jason that if Jason were stood in that ring of death, it wouldn’t take long for Nico’s powers to sap his life too. He wisely decided to stay back.

“Ah…” Favonius nodded sympathetically. “I don’t blame you for being nervous, Nico di Angelo. There are only two things my master may want, and one of them would be quite… disruptive for you.” 

“Not helping,” Jason muttered, too worried by the boy in front of him being so visibly distressed to bother himself much with how he spoke to the god. 

“Do you know how I ended up serving Cupid?” If this was Favonius’ idea of providing a distraction, Jason somehow doubted it would work. 

“I don’t serve anyone,” Nico muttered, which didn’t really make sense to Jason. “Especially not Cupid.” 

Favonius continued as if he hadn’t heard. “I fell in love with a mortal named Hyacinthus. He was quite extraordinary.” He fixed Jason with a look, as though that was supposed to mean something to him. 

When Jason said nothing, he continued. “You see, the god Apollo also liked Hyacinthus. He claimed they were just friends. I don’t know. But one day I came across them together, playing a game of quoits—”

There was that word again. “Quoits?” 

“A game with those hoops,” Nico explained, though his voice sounded brittle, “like horseshoes.” 

“Sort of,” Favonius waved a hand. “At any rate, I was jealous. Instead of confronting them and finding out the truth, I shifted the wind and sent a heavy metal ring right Hyacinthus’ head and— well,” The wind god sighed.

“As Hyacinthus died, Apollo turned him into a flower, the hyacinth. I’m sure Apollo would’ve taken horrible vengeance on me, but Cupid offered me his protection. I’d done a terrible thing, but I’d been driven mad by love, so he spared me, on the condition that I work for him forever.” 

_ CUPID. _

The name echoed through the ruins again. 

“That would be my cue,” Favonius stood, “think long and hard about how you proceed, Nico di Angelo, Jason Grace. You cannot lie to Cupid, and even I do not know which path he will take. If you let your anger rule you— well, your fate will be even sadder than mine.” 

Jason felt like his brain was turning back into wind. He didn’t understand what Favonius was talking about, or why Nico seemed so shaken, but he had no time to think about it. The wind god disappeared in a swirl of red and gold. The summer air suddenly felt oppressive. The ground shook, and Jason and Nico both drew their swords. 

_ So. _

The voice rushed past Jason’s ear like a bullet. When he turned, no one was there. 

_ You come to claim the sceptre.  _

Nico stood at his back, and Jason was glad to have the guy’s company. 

“Cupid,” Jason called. “Where are you?” 

The voice laughed. It definitely didn’t sound like a cute baby angel’s. It sounded deep and rich, but also threatening — like a tremor before a major earthquake. 

_ Where you least expect me, _ Cupid answered,  _ as Love always is.  _

Something slammed into Jason and hurled him across the street. He toppled down a set of steps and sprawled on the floor of an excavated Roman basement. 

_ I would think you’d know better _ ,  _ Jason Grace, _ Cupid’s voice whirled around him,  _ you’ve found love, after all. Or do you still doubt yourself?  _

Nico scrambled down the steps. “You okay?” 

Jason accepted his hand and got to his feet. “Yeah. Just sucker-punched.” 

_ Oh, did you expect me to play fair? _ Cupid laughed,  _ I am the god of love. I am never fair.  _

This time Jason’s senses were on high alert. He felt the air ripple just as an arrow materialised, racing towards Nico’s chest. 

Jason intercepted it with his sword, and deflected it sideways. The arrow exploded against the nearest wall, peppering them with limestone shrapnel. 

They ran up the steps. Jason pulled Nico to one side as another gust of wind toppled a column that would have crushed him flat. 

“Is this guy Love or Death?” 

_ Ask your friends, _ Cupid said,  _ Frank, Hazel, and Percy met my counterpart, Letum. We are not so different. Except Death is sometimes kinder.  _

“We just want the sceptre!” Nico shouted. “We’re trying to stop Gaia. Are you on the gods’ side or not?” 

Cupid let out a heavy sigh.  _ Nico di Angelo. You have suffered more than most. Did the gods respect your Love? Have they respected the sacrifices you have made in my name? How can I serve those who respect my domain so little? Love is on every side, and no one’s.  _

“Great,” Jason said, not bothering to pick apart what Cupid had said. “Now he’s spouting greeting card messages.”

Movement behind him: Jason spun, slicing his sword through the air. His blade bit into something solid. He heard a grunt, and he swung again, but the invisible god was gone. On the paving stones, a trail of golden ichor shimmered — the blood of the gods. 

_ Very good, Jason, _ Cupid said,  _ at least you can sense my presence. Even a glancing hit at true love is more than most heroes manage.  _

“So now I get the sceptre?” Jason asked.

Cupid laughed.  _ I need a bigger sacrifice than that. I would demand it of your companion — only a child of the Underworld can summon the dead legions, and only an officer of Rome can lead them — but as I’ve said… He’s made many sacrifices in my name already. Letum would not allow me to take more from his favoured one _ .

Jason blanched. He was an officer. He was praetor. Then he remembered all his second thoughts about where he belonged, his relief when Nico started interacting with the crew and helping him lead, and how glad he was that there would be someone to take over for him, if he decided to stay at Camp Half Blood for a while. Did that make him unworthy to lead a legion of Roman ghosts? 

Nico seemed to see the indecision on his face. “Enough games!” He shouted. “Show yourself!” 

_ It is a costly thing, _ Cupid said, _ looking on the true face of Love. Another column toppled. Jason scrambled out of its way.  _

_ My wife Psyche learned that lesson, _ Cupid continued.  _ She was brought here aeons ago, when this was the site of my palace. We met only in the dark. She was warned never to look upon me, and yet she could not stand the mystery. She feared I was a monster. One night, she lit a candle, and beheld my face as I slept.  _

“Were you that ugly?” Jason thought he had zeroed in on Cupid’s voice — at the edge of the amphitheatre about twenty yards away — but he wanted to make sure. 

The god laughed. __

_ I was too handsome, I’m afraid a mortal cannot gaze upon the true appearance of a god without suffering consequences. My mother, Aphrodite, cursed Psyche for her distrust. My poor lover was tormented, forced into exile, given horrible tasks to prove her worth. She was even sent to the Underworld to show her dedication. She earned her way back to my side, but she suffered greatly.  _

_ Now I’ve got you _ , Jason thought. He slowly shifted his stance, ready to strike, when a third arrow zipped by Jason’s shoulder. He couldn’t stop it in time. Nico gasped as it sank into his sword arm. The son of Hades stumbled. The arrow dissolved, leaving no blood and no visible wound, but Nico’s face was tight with rage and pain. 

Anger coursed through Jason, and he instinctively let the presence in the back of his mind take over. His body flooded with electricity, and without even having to use his sword to summon it like he usually did, thunder shook the valley. Lightning jumped off him in great arcs, blasting a crater right where the voice had been speaking. 

Silence, except for the buzzing of electricity coursing through his veins. Jason was just thinking,  _ ‘fuck, it actually worked _ !’ when an invisible force knocked him to the ground. His sword skittered across the road. 

_ Interesting,  _ Cupid murmured, voice tight with pain.  _ A good try, but love cannot be pinned down so easily. _ Ichor dripped onto the courtyard. 

Next to him, a wall collapsed. Jason barely managed to roll aside. 

“Stop it!” Nico yelled. “You already said it — after everything I’ve done in your name, why are you doing this?” His voice cracked. “How can you condemn the gods for not respecting my sacrifices, and then throw them in my face?” Waves of darkness rolled off the son of Hades, although they dissipated before they could hit Jason. Skeletal hands clawed their way out of the ground. Nico’s eyes were practically glowing with anger, and Jason was reminded strongly of the mad glint he’d seen in Pluto

Cupid became visible — a lean, muscular young man with snowy white wings, straight black hair, a simple white frock, and jeans. His frock had a few smoking holes that glistened with ichor. Some of Jason’s lightning had hit, it seemed.

The bow and quiver slung over his shoulder were no toys — they were weapons of war. His eyes were as red as blood, as if every valentine in the world had been squeezed dry, distilled into one poisonous mixture. His face was handsome, but also harsh, as difficult to look at as a spotlight. When he looked at Nico, his face seemed to soften. 

“You know what I want from Jason Grace.” He said simply, not a question. 

Nico nodded, skin as pallid as when they’d first rescued him. “You’re going to force it anyway.” He replied in a flat tone. For a moment, Jason thought he was going to charge Cupid. Nico’s body flickered between solid and transparent, like he was shadowtravelling too fast for the eye to see, unable to leave. 

“I need a sacrifice, deathling. Surely Letum taught you that much?” Cupid cocked his head. 

Nico merely shook his head and turned to Jason, whose stomach had sunk. He’d been so convinced Cupid wouldn’t worry about something as ridiculous as a teenage boy with no sex-drive, but if he did… then Jason was actually broken. A god wouldn’t bother with some ridiculous phase, or side effect of the meddling of another god. Jason’s… condition… was permanent. He was never going to get better. Never going to be able to be what Piper - what anyone - wanted. Gods above, how could he do that to Piper? What was he supposed to tell her? How many times could he change the subject when she suggested trying stuff out before she got sick of waiting for him? What kind of shitty boyfriend was he, if he couldn’t bring himself to touch his own girlfriend when she asked?

The smile Nico shot him was just as shattered as his eyes always were. Jason watched his mouth open, but the roaring in his ears was too loud to hear a word he said. Nico knew. Somehow Nico di Angelo knew what Jason hadn’t told anyone — that he was broken, that Piper McLean, the most beautiful girl quite possibly in the world, did as much for him sexually as contemplating his own existence did, and that men didn’t do any more for him either. Nico knew that the thought of doing any of the things that the Stolls and Leo joked about, the things that Piper had gently suggested they talk about, made him feel sick to the stomach. A drop of rain hit his forehead.

Cupid smiled at him. It was probably supposed to be reassuring, but all Jason could see was Will Solace’s smiling face as he explained sex to a room full of kids, both younger and older than him, gently reassuring them that it was completely normal to feel those things, normal to want sex, normal to start experimenting, while Jason tried to see if he could force himself to feel something like that for Piper, or Will, or someone, or - Jupiter’s fucking dick - anyone. Normal, gods above, why couldn’t he just be fucking normal?

“The deathling already knows. He won’t judge you.” Cupid moved closer, slowly, like he was approaching a cornered animal. “Tell me about Piper.” 

“What do you want to know?” Jason tried to keep his voice steady, but it was a losing battle. It started to drizzle, the sky suddenly grey.

“How you feel about her? How true does it feel? How can you love someone when you don’t remember the last year of your life?” Thunder rumbled, and Cupid glanced to the sky, looking almost nervous. 

“I love her,” Jason insisted. “I love her. Just like I love Thalia even though I’ve only met her once that I remember, and like I love Leo even though my first memories of him are fake.”

“But you don’t desire her?” Cupid pushed. Nico made a retching sound, and when Jason turned to look at him, gold glinted at his wrists, like he was being physically held in place. 

“I’m still a kid,” he dismissed, voice laced with a desperate edge. “It’ll come, in time.” Vulcan’s flaming beard, he knew he was bullshitting. From the look on Cupid’s face, he knew it too.

“How many normal sixteen year old boys, surrounded by beautiful half gods, feel nothing?”

“I can love Piper without wanting to have sex with her! She’s more than that, and so am I! She’s beautiful and smart and amazing and dangerous, and I love her for that!” The air began to smell of ozone as dark clouds blotted out the sun.

Cupid laughed. “But she wants more, doesn’t she? Poor, beautiful Piper McLean, trapped with a broken boy, who can’t give her what she deserves,” he singsonged. 

“I’m not broken.” Jason hunched in on himself. “I’m not fucking broken, okay? It’s just— I don’t know, I— erm, it’s, late blooming or leftover mind-fuckery, or who knows, maybe I still don’t fully work from when I got fucking vaporised by Hera!” his voice slowly got tighter and more panicked, and his hands started moving as he spoke. The rain got heavier, puddles started forming in the courtyard, and Jason’s hair was plastered to his face. “I’m just, it’s the stress of the quest, or the fact that we’re never alone, or-or...” 

“Interesting,” Cupid said, “you’re still hiding, even though your companion already knows?” Skeletons began to break forth from the ground surrounding Nico’s feet. “How can you love her, when you won’t even tell her the truth?” 

“It’s just a defect!” Jason snapped. Lightning sparked off his skin, and thunder sounded throughout the ruins. “Why are you so fucking bothered? So what? Some random kid doesn’t work properly, what does that matter to you?” 

“Do you have the strength, after all?” Cupid moved as if to get closer, but Nico’s skeletons closed ranks around him. “I’m the god of desire, Jason Grace. I need a sacrifice for the sceptre. This is all you have to give me.” 

“It’s okay, Jason,” Nico shouted, struggling against whatever it was holding him in place. He was absolutely drenched, but even through the sheets of rain between them, Jason could see the fury in his eyes. “We’ve talked about this. You’re not broken. You told me the last time I saw you that you’d found a name for it. A community.” 

Jason clenched his fists, and biting cold winds started to whip through the ruins. Showers of sparks jumped off him, illuminating the now dark courtyard. 

“I don’t want to have sex, or do any of the things that everyone has made it their business to tell me I should want!” He spat finally, voice hoarse and bitter. “That’s it! That’s the big secret! And maybe I love Piper like I love Leo and Thalia, which doesn’t matter because I’m not fucking good enough for her anyway!” A fork of lightning raced down from the sky and hit a nearby column.

Jason glared at him so viciously that the god actually took a step back, nervous expression thrown into sharp relief by the electric blue glow emanating from Jason. For a moment he wasn’t an accomplished Roman soldier, or one of the prophecy of seven, or even Jason Grace. He was just some scared kid raised by wolves and soldiers that didn’t know how to survive if he wasn’t fighting for every gods-damned breath. “Happy now?” 

Cupid’s gaze turned sympathetic. “Oh I wouldn’t say Love always makes you happy. Sometimes it makes you incredibly sad. But at least you’ve faced it now. That is the only way to conquer me.” 

He snapped his fingers, and Nico was freed. “Deathling, when your family faces Juno and demands retribution, we will be behind you.” 

Without explaining what in Diana’s name that meant, Cupid dissolved into the wind. 

On the ground where he’d stood lay an ivory staff about three feet long, topped with a dark globe of polished marble about the size of a baseball, nestled on the back of three gold Roman eagles. The sceptre of Diocletian. 

Nico knelt and picked it up. He regarded Jason wearily, as if expecting him to break down, or strike him with lightning. Jason wasn’t one hundred percent sure that he wouldn’t do either if he said the wrong thing. “You’re not broken, Jay.” For the first time, he didn’t correct himself. “You’ve never been broken.” 

“If the others found out—” 

“If the others found out,” Nico said, voice rough despite his gentle words. “You’d have that many more people to back you up and to unleash the fury of the gods on anybody who gives you trouble.” 

Jason scowled. Lightning still crackled between his fingertips. “Did—” his voice broke. “People knew? Before? And they were okay with it?” 

“Jason everybody loved you. Sure, you were scary, but you were loved and respected, and you probably could’ve told them you were swanning off to marry Narcissus, and they would’ve only wished you the best. I swear on the  _ River Styx, _ that nobody thought any less of you just because of how you feel.” 

Jason had no idea how a kid from the 1940s seemed more chill about all this than him, but then Nico’s words from earlier came echoing back. A lot of their experiences lined up. The wolves, and subsequently the legion, had been about as quick to give him a comprehensive sex education as Nico’s teachers back from his past likely were, but Nico had amassed knowledge of the modern world from his travels, and his family in the Underworld. Jason had just sat in his nice camp full of nice people that feared and respected him in equal measures behind the nice walls that kept the world safe from traumatised child soldiers with the powers of the gods. 

“Jason,” Nico said gently, “Piper won’t care. Leo won’t care. Coach will be glad that you’re not someone he has to watch over. I don’t care. You’re not broken.” 

“What about Piper?” He asked quietly. “What do I tell her? I thought - I thought I loved her like I’m supposed to. I didn’t even know I didn’t until I said it. I-I..” he scrubbed his hand over his face, ignoring the ticklish feeling of static. “I thought she was it for me, but as soon as Cupid put pressure on it..it felt like..like when I regain memories.”

Nico awkwardly rested a hand in Jason’s shoulder. “Piper’s smart as all hell, Jason. I’m pretty sure Hazel told me she can sense emotion, or at least attraction. She’s probably just waiting for you to realise. I doubt you would’ve taken it well if she broke up with you because of your lack of romance, and she was probably trying to save you from that. As for your other point..Juno gave you a fake relationship, knowing that Venus is the oldest Olympian, and that her domain is arguably the most powerful. She obviously had a vested interest in going against what Venus is in favour of - real happiness for her children. Maybe Juno tried to maintain your feelings even after you regained some of your memories.”

Jason watched him for a moment. His expression didn’t waver. “Thank you,” He managed after a moment, unable to pull his thoughts together long enough to say anything else. The rain started to peter off, and the clouds began to clear. “We should get back to the ship,” He looked up. “I can fly us?”

“No,” Nico announced. “This time we’re shadow travelling. I’ve had enough of the winds for a while, even if yours were pretty impressive.” 

“I did that?” Jason looked around at the courtyard, noting the huge puddles, and occasional scorch marks. Instead of drained, liked he’d felt after summoning the storm with Percy, he felt alive, buzzing with energy. When he touched the sceptre, the metal glowed white hot under his fingertips.

Nico scoffed. “What else? You think _ I _ can control the weather?” 

“I thought… my dad… maybe.” He shook his head, embarrassed. He’d thought he was over wishing his dad could fight his battles for him, but here he was, disappointed once again, even in the face of an indicator that he was getting his powers back.

Nico’s gaze softened. “You summoned that storm, Jay. You’ve never needed his help with that. Every storm you’ve ever called, every lightning bolt you’ve used, it’s always been you. His ichor makes it possible, but everything else is all you.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry?
> 
> Please comment emojis if you don’t wanna write a full comment and have left kudos but wanna let me know how I’m doing! Drop by tumblr under the same name for a chat if you’d like :)
> 
> [Big thanks to Preeshera for Beta-ing](https://preeshera.tumblr.com/)


	7. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The consequences of facing Cupid, and some team bonding :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you tell I’ve been reading the raven cycle lol 
> 
> Hope y’all enjoy it! I’ve got a couple one shots in verse that have been written already and I’ll probably continue as and when the mood strikes, sorry to those who’ve requested Solangelo-Hogwarts verse one shots, they’ll happen eventually I promise, but let me know in the comments if you’d prefer I just publish the one shots as and when I write them, or if you’d prefer them when they become relevant/talked about in the story :))

Nico stuck to his side easily when they got back to the ship, guiding him past the worried crew, and back down to his cabin. “C’mon Jay. You’re shaking. Does Leo have a bath system set up down here? I think you could do with a warm bath. Percy probably has some face masks left in his cabin, I doubt they’re your thing but they’re shockingly soothing.” He kept up a steady stream of chatter, totally unlike himself, but it helped in a weird way. 

Jason wasn’t really aware of anything happening, he just absently watched as Nico ran a bath, and helped him apply an Ariel face mask that he’d stolen from Percy’s room, and then suddenly he was alone, staring in the mirror at a boy he didn’t recognise. 

How much had he changed?

Even since their departure from New Rome, he’d become a totally different person. There was a groove in his hair from Sciron’s bullet, and his eyes were a sparking live wire instead of a warm, clear sky, and his face, once marred only by the scar on his lip, now bore patchy stubble that no one had taught him to shave off and a constellation of cuts and faded bruises and frown lines. 

What had he looked like before Camp Half Blood? Hazel said people had been scared of him - did he scowl all the time? Had he been dating someone who soothed the frowns away when he needed it? Was he always covered in ink and graphite from trying and failing to write important letters that he eventually gave to Nico, or was his skin pristine from never even trying? Was he constantly littered with cuts and bruises from training and hard work, or did he bear a resemblance to Octavian, who only got as close to the fighting as was necessary to prevent alienation? Did he have bruised lips and marked up skin from pushing himself to try sex with someone, or was he too distant, too straight laced, too unapproachable for that kind of thing? 

He didn’t know who he was or who he’d been or who he wanted to be. He wanted, _gods above_ , what did he want?

He wanted a long night’s sleep, completely uninterrupted. He wanted someone to hold him for a few hours whilst he broke apart into a million tiny shards, and tell him it was going to be okay as he painstakingly built himself back together. He wanted to eat something that had actually been cooked by a real person. He wanted to have someone who loved him so obnoxiously that he’d never be afraid they’d leave. He wanted to watch the sunrise from the top of Mount Tamalpais.

And then there was Piper. Fucking Mars almighty, there was Piper.

It took hours for Jason to figure out what in Pluto’s name to say to Piper. He prayed to Venus and Amicitia and Himerus, desperately hoping one of them would step in before he would have to talk to her himself. He wouldn’t - couldn’t - reveal what had happened with Cupid. He knew, gods did he know, that she was likely the best person to talk to about it. He knew if anyone could tell him about the ins and outs of that kind of thing, it would be one of the two people aboard who’d had a vaguely normal childhood. But..she didn’t know him as Jason the boy. She knew him as Jason the soldier, and Jason the amnesiac, and Jason the hero. From what he could piece together, there were two people on the planet who knew Jason the boy. One was thousands of miles away, racing towards them into forbidden lands on a fucking Pegasus, and the other had let him cry onto his shoulder, and instinctively known when to leave him in peace. 

Piper was neither of those people. He couldn’t imagine sharing a weakness like this. It wasn’t a weakness like, oh, my left side is my weakest, can you try to watch it for me when we fight? It was some soul deep abnormality that would sound like some cheap cop out, some easy way to break up with her and make it about himself. 

——

In the end she came to him. 

She knocked on his door whilst he was staring at the wall, skin flickering occasionally with leftover electricity. 

“Come in.” 

Piper closed the door behind herself, and sat down next to him on the bed. “Are you okay? We’ve not seen you since you got back, and Nico won’t tell us anything.” 

Jason tried not to sigh too obviously in relief. He’d known, distantly, that Nico wouldn’t tell, whether it was because the boy himself held so many secrets he couldn’t leak one without leaking a hundred, or because of this supposed friendship that was starting to spill out, but it was nice to hear that he hadn’t. “Yeah. I’m fine. We..we need to talk though.”

“Do you want to tell me about Split, first? I know something’s troubling you.” She brushed her thumb along the crease in his brow, but quickly pulled her hand back when static crackled dangerously in his hair.

No. 

“Sure. We met Cupid, and Favonius, the god of the West Wind.” He shrugged. “No biggie. Cupid called Nico deathling, which was pretty funny. We got the sceptre. Nico might hate them both now. We left the message for Reyna successfully.”

She recoiled slightly. Maybe it was the flat tone, or how little information he gave, or maybe it was how his eyes were fixed on the clock over his bag of clothes. He didn’t know. He didn’t care. 

“What did you want to talk about, then?” She sounded like she was herself bracing for something. Jason hated that she was right to be. 

“This..this isn’t working. The whole basis for this is fake memories, and I know that’s why we didn’t stay together once I woke up, but I don’t think what we’ve done since then was real either. The second Cupid asked me about it, it all fell away, like there had never been anything there at all. I still don’t remember a lot from Camp Jupiter. Nico says Juno might be trying to keep something from me, something she doesn’t want me finding out, and if she’s pushing me so strongly towards you, that it takes being questioned by a _god_ to realise I don’t feel anything for you romantically, then it’s important enough that I need to find out what it is.” 

Piper nodded slowly. “I think you’re right. Not..it hasn’t gone away for me. But my mom..everyone else in the Aphrodite cabin says she’s _for_ love. She’s always so cryptic when we speak that I feel like she’s doing everything she can to let me know that this isn’t _right_..she just can’t say it outright.” 

He nodded slowly, then held his hand out. “Friends?” 

She rolled her eyes, and sprawled half on top of him, so he got a mouthful of hair, and an elbow to the ribs. “ _Best_ friends, dipshit.” 

——

Piper, and Leo, who had shown up pretty quickly once they’d finished talking, spent the rest of the evening like that, curled up with Jason on his bed, reminiscing about their ridiculous adventures: Leo’s disastrous flirting with Khione, Jason flinging himself into the Grand Canyon without even knowing he could fly, Piper letting Coach Hedge work for her dad, and a million other stupid tiny details that had been the biggest things they’d ever done, until the Universe had expanded, and suddenly, instead of awful mistakes that had almost gotten them killed, they were just stories to tell when their faces were peppered with tear tracks and scars and heartbreak. 

Nico poked his head through the door, sometime between dusk and dawn. “You guys missed dinner, so we brought you plates. Um. Are you all okay?” 

And then Nico, Frank, and Hazel joined them, sprawling out on the floor. They traded memories well into the night. Nico became popular with Piper and Leo when he dished out a few embarrassing stories about Jason, and Hazel and Frank recalled things about Nico that turned him from some dangerous, powerful creature who doled out respect and affection only when, and if it was earned, into an awkward, stumbling fifteen year old boy who could summon an army at the drop of a hat, but who spent hours with Julia, Terminus’ apprentice, teaching her phrases of Italian whenever he had time to spare. Leo and Frank finally seemed to get over their differences long enough to bounce stories off one another about Hazel and Piper as well, and they spent at least half the night teaming up on anyone they felt deserved a good roasting. 

For a night they were teenagers, _friends_ even, idiots telling stories and taking the piss and laughing and smiling, instead of strangers forced together in awful circumstances, trying to navigate around their jagged edges, honed by years of trauma and bitterness and hurt. Jason wanted to play every second on repeat, until he got so sick of it he was forced to move onto the next one. And for the first time in what little memory he had, he was struck with the intense desire to _live_. He wanted to take Frank to a bar for his twenty first birthday, he wanted to kiss Hazel’s cheek and wish her well before she took over the world, he wanted to play every video game imaginable with Piper and Leo as they consumed shitty beer and too-sweet popcorn every time they ran out of things to do. 

He didn’t want to sacrifice his life for gods that didn’t care about him, fighting monsters that would never stop regenerating, with his powers and memories blocked by a goddess who’d anointed him her champion.

He wanted to storm Olympus and demand justice. He wanted to call a thunderstorm so huge that the world sat and watched in utter awe. He wanted to stagger back home, exhausted and elated, to Nico and Reyna, who would be standing at the Caldecott Tunnel entrance, waiting for him.   
  


——

Coach Hedge found them the next morning, all six of them still crammed into Jason’s cabin. Frank had turned into a snake to save space, and was laid out along the windowsill. Hazel and Nico were tucked together, seemingly blanketed in darkness. Piper had climbed (fallen?) off the bed at some point, and had ended up spooning Hazel, and somehow the shadows were resting over her, despite Nico being too far gone to possibly be exerting his will over them, leaving Jason and Leo curled up together on the bed. 

“Up and at ‘em, cupcakes!” 

Jason jumped so hard he electrocuted Leo, who burst into flames, which of course led to Frank attempting to turn into a dragon, before realising the space was not at all accommodating to a creature of that size and he shifted into a bearded lizard. For a hot minute, Jason thought that they were about to drown right there and then, in the whirlpool caused by a burning, sinking ship. 

Fortunately, shadows appeared to be fire retardant, and Nico was quick to douse the whole room in them once he’d been successfully shaken awake.

Unfortunately, Nico did not seem to like being shaken awake, and it appeared that the whole coating-the-room-in-shadows deal was more Nico being pissed off, along with his eyes going entirely black, than some kind of genuine effort to stop the whole boat going up in flames. 

Jason imagined it must’ve been a sight; five teenage warriors and a violent half-goat man standing with their heads bowed sheepishly, as a small Italian raved and ranted at them, in a myriad of languages, bar any that could be understood. 

Eventually Nico calmed down, but he refused to speak in English for the rest of the day, only snapping something in Latin or Greek, or, memorably, what Leo described as absolutely filthy Spanish, when he decided that he needed to communicate. 

If this had happened maybe three days ago, Jason probably would’ve been _terrified_ at the prospect of upsetting the son of Pluto, would’ve expected retribution in the form of skeletons rising out of the deep, or shadows tearing them to shreds, but after watching Nico propped against a wall and cackling his dark little heart out at something Frank had said at three in the morning, Jason couldn’t find it in him to be scared. 

——

Jason hated the cold. He’d spent his whole life on the California coast, surfing and hiking and training in the heat, and so far, the Mediterranean hadn’t been much different. 

Two days out to sea from Split, grey clouds swallowed the sky. The waves turned choppy. Cold drizzle sprayed across the deck, forming ice on the rails and ropes. 

“It’s the sceptre,” Nico murmured, hefting the ancient staff. “It has to be.” 

Jason wondered. In the last two days the crew had grown closer, Nico and Jason especially. Nico was still hesitant to mention their shared past, but he would make sure to catch Jason if he ended up staring off into space, and had gently coaxed him through three panic attacks. Jason appreciated it, especially since he didn’t really know how to talk to Piper alone anymore. 

It made sense that the sceptre might have caused the weather change. The black orb on top seemed to leach the colour right out of the air. The golden eagles at its base glinted coldly. The sceptre could supposedly control the dead, and it definitely have off bad vibes. Coach Hedge had taken one look at the thing, turned pale, and announced he was going to his room to console himself with Chuck Norris videos. Piper and Leo had theorised that he was actually making Itis-messages back home to his girlfriend Mellie; the coach had been acting very agitated about her lately, but none of them would begrudge the old goat if he was. 

So, yeah.. maybe the sceptre could cause a freak ice storm, but Jason didn’t think so, and if he could still read Piper’s facial expressions at all, then they were in agreement. He only hoped it wasn’t something else happening - something even worse.

“We can’t talk up here,” Nico decided, aviator jacket tucked close around himself, and one of Frank’s hoodies resting over his shoulders. 

“Let’s postpone the meeting.” Jason nodded his agreement. They’d all gathered on the quarterdeck to discuss strategy as they got closer to Epirus. Now it was clearly not a good place to hang out. Wind swept frost across the deck. The sea churned beneath them. 

Jason hated the waves. He had a general distrust for his uncle’s realm, and he could see it reflected in Nico’s face. Hazel was doing even worse, she got seasick even in calm waters. Now, she looked like she was trying to swallow a snooker ball. 

“Need to-“ Hazel gagged and pointed below. 

“Yeah, go.” Nico kissed her cheek, which Jason found surprising. Even with how much Nico had opened up, it had mainly been to him, and it was odd to see him being outwardly and obviously affectionate in front of the whole crew. 

“I’ll walk you down.” Frank wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and guided her down the stairs.

Nico brushed some ice from his hair. He frowned at the sceptre of Diocletian. “I should put this thing away. If it’s really causing the weather, maybe taking it below deck will help..” 

“Sure,” Jason said. “Can you throw me up a jacket?” 

“‘Course. Did you bring anything warm or do you want me to see if Frank or Percy brought one you can borrow?” He had an amused smirk, like he already knew the answer. 

“Shit. Uh, ask Frank, please?” 

Nico nodded, and disappeared below deck. 

Leo pulled a screwdriver from his belt. “So much for the big team meeting. Looks like it’s just us again.” 

Jason tried not to look too awkward. He and Piper had been civil with each other, but there were still moments, when he’d go to hold her hand, or she’d move to kiss his cheek. They’d not spent much time alone as just friends, and it was difficult learning to be such. 

Piper gazed into the cold rain. She looked troubled, so Jason forced himself to reach out and squeeze her shoulder. “Hey, it’ll be fine. We’re close to Epirus now. Another day or so, if Nico’s directions are right.” 

“Yep.” Leo tinkered with his Archimedes’ sphere, tapping and nudging one of the jewels on its surface. “By tomorrow morning, we’ll reach the western coast of Greece. Then another hour inland and bang - House of Hades! I’ma get me the T-shirt!” 

“Yay,” Piper muttered. 

Jason exchanged a glance with Leo. He didn’t know what to say to comfort her, didn’t know where the line was for too boyfriend-y, didn’t know what she needed. 

“Guys,” she said. “I’ve been thinking about the Prophecy of Seven.” 

It took a lot to get Leo’s attention away from his work, but that did the trick. 

“What about it?” He asked. “Like..good stuff, I hope?” 

Piper readjusted her cornucopia’s shoulder strap. Sometimes she seemed so comfortable with it to Jason. Other times she appeared to struggle under its weight.

“In Katropis,” she started, “I keep seeing that giant Clytius - the guy who’s wrapped in shadows. I know his weakness is fire, but in my visions he sniffs our flames wherever he goes. Any kind of light just gets sucked into his cloud of darkness.” 

“Sounds like Nico when he’s just been woken up,” Leo joked. “Think they’re related?” 

“Oh, yeah,” a dry voice said from behind them. They all turned to see Nico, smiling wryly. He threw Jason a thick burgundy hoodie. “Haven’t I told you about Underworld family dinners? Clytius goes all the time. We like to talk about our plans to take over the world together.” 

Leo blanched. “See now, I have no idea if you’re joking.”

“Don’t worry,” Nico said sardonically. “I’m not comparing world domination plans with one of Gaia’s minions. Somehow, he wasn’t part of the welcoming committee in Tartarus.” He shrugged. “Shame. Guy’s my hero.” 

“Why do you feel the need to do that?” Leo sagged against the mast he was propping himself up on. “Does it make you happy to fill me with images of you trailing after him like an evil little shadow-Robin?” 

Nico stared blankly. “Robin?” 

Leo’s face was the image of despair. “Once this whole mess is over, you, me, Batman marathon. Understand?” 

“ _Oh_.” Nico blinked in confusion, then gave him a small, pleased smile. “Yeah. Okay.” He glanced at Jason like he was looking for confirmation, then made his way back below deck. 

The three of them sat in silence for a minute, before Piper spoke up again. “I keep thinking about fire,” she said. “How we expect Leo to bear this giant because he’s..”

“Hot?” Leo suggested with a grin.

“Um, let's go with _flammable_. Anyway, that line from the prophecy bothers me: _To storm or fire the world must fall_.” 

“Yeah, we know all about it,” Leo promised. “You’re gonna say I’m fire. And Jason here is storm.” 

Piper nodded reluctantly. The ship pitched to starboard, and Jason grabbed the icy rail. He quickly shrugged on the hoodie Nico had delivered. “So you’re worried one of us will endanger the quest, maybe accidentally destroy the world?”

“No,” Piper said. “I think we’ve been reading that line the wrong way. _The world_ … the earth. In Greek, the world that would be..” 

She hesitated. Jason didn’t. 

“Gaia,” he felt himself perk up. “You mean, _to storm or fire Gaia must fall_?” 

“Oh..” Leo grinned even wider. “You know, I like your version a lot better. ‘Cause if Gaia falls to me, Mr Fire, that is absolutely copacetic.” 

“Or to me..storm. Though, I suppose that could be Percy. Or both of us together, even, like in Charleston.” Jason gave her a one armed hug, holding the other arm out to Leo, who joined the cuddle fest. “That’s brilliant! If you’re right, this is great news. We just have to figure out which of us destroys Gaia.” 

“Maybe.”. Piper sounded uneasy, too uneasy for the hope she’d just given them. “But, see, it’s storm _or_ fire..”

She unsheathes Katropis and set it down on the console. Immediately, the blade flickered, showing the dark shape of the giant Clytius moving through a corridor, snuffing out torches.

“I’m worried about Leo and this fight with Clytius,” she said. “That line in the prophecy makes it sound like only one of you can succeed. And if the _storm or fire_ part is connected to the third line, _an oath to keep with a final breath_..” 

Jason understood immediately what she meant. If Piper was right, one of them would defeat Gaia. The other would die. 

——

Being frozen was awful. 

Being frozen and coming to to find that one of his best friends had been blasted into the sky, and that their ship had been blown miles off course by a bitter snow goddess who seemed to have some deep seated issue with Piper was even worse. 

Now they were stuck somewhere on the coast of Northern Africa, and he had to deal with a dickish wind god who switched form every fucking day, and couldn’t make a unanimous decision between his two forms to save a damn life. Their only engineer was last seen hundreds of feet in the air and climbing. Their next smartest team member was a nine day’s fall below the earth’s surface battling her way through thousands of monsters. The ship was battered to all hell. 

After five days in the palace of the South Wind, he knew only one thing: he his and his crew were unlikely to get out of there alive.

Jason leaned against the balcony rail. The air was so hot and dry it sucked the moisture right out of his lungs. Over the last week, his skin had gotten darker, and his hair had turned as white as corn silk. He’d forgone cutting it, something about the new length appealing to him. Whenever he glanced in the mirror, he was startled by the wild, empty look in his eyes, as if he’d gone blind wandering in the desert. 

A hundred feet below, the bay glittered against a crescent of red sand beach. The palace itself stretched out on either side of him - a honeycomb of halls and tunnels, balconies, colonnades and cavernous rooms carved into the sandstone cliffs, all designed for the wind to blow through and make as much noise as possible. The constant pipe-organ sounds reminded Jason of the floating lair of Aeolus, back in Colorado, except the winds here seemed to be in no hurry.

On their best day, the southern _venti_ were slow and lazy. On their worst days, they were gusty and angry. They’d initially welcomed the Argo II, since any enemy of Boreas was a friend of the South Wind, but they seemed to have forgotten that the demigods were their guests. The _venti_ had quickly lost interest in helping to repair the ship. Their King’s mood got worse every day. 

Down at the dock, Jason’s friends were working on the Argo II. The main sail had been repaired, the rigging replaced. Now they were mending the oars. Without Leo, none of them knew how to repair the more complicated parts of the ship, even with the help of Buford the table, and Festus (who was now permanent activated thanks to Piper’s charmspeak - and _none_ of them understood that). 

Hazel and Frank stood at the helm, tinkering with the controls. Piper relayed their commands to Coach Hedge, who was hanging over the side of the ship, banging out dents in the oars. Hedge was well suited for banging on things. 

They didn’t seem to be making much progress, but considering what they’d been through, it was a miracle the ship was in one piece. 

Hazel and Frank pulled down some of the levers. The port oars went crazy, chopping up and down and doing the wave. Coach Hedge tried to dodge, but one smacked him in the rear and launched him into the air. He came down screaming and splashed into the bay. 

Jason sighed. At this rate, they’d never be able to sail even if the southern _venti_ allowed them to. Somewhere in the north, Reyna was flying towards Epirus, assuming she’d gotten their messages at Diocletian’s palace. Leo was list and in trouble. Percy and Annabeth.. well, best-case scenario they were still alive, making their way to the Doors of Death. Jason couldn’t let them down.

A rustling sound made him turn. Nico stood in the shadow of the nearest column. He’d shed his jacket, and he just wore a too-big band shirt he’d taken from Percy’s cabin and black jeans, also from Percy, rolled up at the ankles. His sword and the sceptre of Diocletian hung on either side of his belt. Days in the hot sun had removed the green tinge to his skin, even if he hadn’t tanned much. His dark hair fell over his eyes. He was looming healthier every day, and even if the awful things he’d been through were still evident in the scars littering his skin, he was clearly beginning to heal from it. His arms were surprisingly taught with muscles, like he’d spent the last week sword fighting. He’d trained once or twice with the rest of the team, but for all Jason knew, he’d been slipping off the practice raising spirits with the sceptre, then sparring with him. 

“Any word from the king?” Nico asked.

Jason shook his head. “Every day, he calls for me later and later.”

“We need to leave,” Nico said. “Soon.” 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come find me on [Tumblr ](https://MaybeIWantTheOceanToBurn.tumblr.com/) to have a chat :) 
> 
> Please feel free to leave emojis in the comments to let me know you’re still enjoying it if you’ve already left kudos :))


	8. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason vs Auster, and some self realisation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Sorry this is so late, I’ve got uni admissions exams in three weeks so am a bit busy lol :) hope you enjoy some good ole self realisation ;)

Hearing Nico confirm the edgy feeling Jason had been having didn’t help. “You sense something?” 

“Percy and Annabeth are close to the Doors,” Nico said. “He-They’ll need us if they’re going to make it through alive.” 

“All right,” Jason said. “But if we can’t repair the ship-“ 

“I promised I’d lead you to the House of Hades,” Nico’s voice was firm and steady, so different to the way he’d spoke at the start of the journey: shattered and deadly, like an abused animal ready to fight its way out or die trying. “One way or another, I will.” 

“You can’t shadow-travel with all of us. And it  _ will _ take all of us to reach the Doors of Death.”

The orb at the end of Diocletian’s sceptre glowed purple. Over the last week, it seemed to have aligned itself to Nico’s moods. Jason wasn’t entirely sure it was a good thing. Now instead of a room dropping a few degrees when Nico was displeased, it plummeted, until their breaths fogged, even in the blistering Mediterranean heat. 

“Then you’ve  _ got _ to convince the king of the South Wing to help.” Nico said sharply. “I can’t do much more, here.” 

“I know,” Jason’s voice shook, despite his best efforts. “We didn’t come all this way, suffer so much..” his resolve strengthened. “I’ll get him to help.”

Nico’s eyes flashed with anger like they did every time someone referenced Cupid, even vaguely. “Look, Jay,” he said, careful, always careful, like Jason was some fucking china doll. “I’m here if you want to talk about what happened in Croatia. I know I’m probably not very easy to talk to but..I understand.” 

Out of nowhere, Jason was swelling with anger and frustration that had been simmering ever since Hazel had told him that it was  _ too hard _ for her and Nico to tell him about who he’d been. How could Nico stand there and make out like he understood, when he’d been so reticent to help Jason with a goddamn thing? He’d known about the sex thing, he’d known about the birthday thing, he probably knew about a million other things that Jason didn’t know, and he probably wouldn’t tell him until some god had thrown it in his face, again. Had he even looked for Jason? Had anybody? He kept coming out with these random little stories about the three of them, all nicknames and anecdotes and nostalgic smiles, but it obviously hadn’t been as impactful as he made it out to be, seeing as Jason still couldn’t fucking remember, when Percy had gotten everything. 

“You don’t understand anything.” Jason’s voice was low and tight. His extremities tingled with pins and needles, like they longed to light up like in Salona, but he still hadn’t been able to recreate the lightning that had coursed through his whole body - another thing that frustrated him. “In fact no, I take it back, you understand everything, and you’re stood here offering platitudes now, but do you know when your support and sympathy would’ve been useful? Back before things I didn’t even know about myself got thrown in my face by a god that decided you were protected!” 

Nico flinched, and Jason probably would’ve regretted it if he wasn’t so consumed with anger. The air cooled. “Tell me, Jason,” any hurt was wiped from his face so quickly Jason almost doubted it had ever been there. “If I, someone you quite explicitly did not remember, came up to you aboard the Argo, and said hey man, I know you have basically no idea who I am asides some shifty traitor with no moral code, but I happen to be aware of the massive inner turmoil you’re suffering through right now, and it’s totally chill that you don’t wanna fuck your girlfriend or anyone else, how exactly would you have responded?” 

“I didn’t think of you as some shifty traitor with no moral code,” Jason defended weakly, but he knew Nico had a point. It still stung to know Nico hadn’t made the effort. “And anyways, that’s not the point here!”

Nico narrowed his eyes. The balcony trembled. Patterns shifted in the stone floor, like bones coming to the surface. “I think it is what it’s about. You’re mad I didn’t drop everything to re-educate you, but a you that doesn’t remember me is a you that has every single prejudice about children of the underworld that most demigods have. A you that doesn’t remember me is a threat, just like you were back when we first met. I hate to un-bury the hatchet, or whatever the phrase is, but do you have any other justification for proposing leaving a fifteen year old to suffocate to death? Like is that a thing you do regularly to kids you just don’t know and don’t have time for, or am I special for some reason?” 

“Stop making this about your father! That’s a decision I made barely on the basis of what I knew about you switching between camps, and what Percy had said about you, and yes, maybe I can’t read him very well and he was joking, but that wasn’t even something I’d considered at the time!” Jason tried not to yell, but the clouds gathering above him, and the shadows rolling off Nico, let him know that if one of them didn’t figure out a way to stop this - and soon - it would be a little more explosive than some raised voices. “And besides, you said it made sense!” 

“You were still wary of me afterwards! Like everyone is! Hell, you’re all half afraid of Hazel when she starts weaving the Mist, no matter how many times we’ve helped.” Nico snapped back, then shook his head. “Your decision did make sense.” He sighed wearily. “Or at least it would if you were a battle hardened military career man who’d been forced into contemplating the worth of a child’s life before, and not a fifteen year old kid!” 

“Exactly!” Jason‘s hands shook. Wind whipped through the honeycombe palace. “We’re children! So will you stop holding a judgement call I made that I fucking stepped back on, and holding me to to prejudices I don’t actually have - I know from memory and Percy that you’re a warrior that has deserved my respect and caution, and so is Hazel - just because I don’t remember you like you’d want me to? I am sorry the complete erasure of my entire life is inconveniencing you, but I think I’ve got bigger fucking worries!” 

“So talk to me about it!” The balcony stopped trembling. Nico leaned back against the railing, the heel of his hands pressed against his eyes. When he next spoke, his voice had lost all anger. “I’ll fill in the gaps where I can. Y’know, now that we actually know each other and I don’t think you’ll attempt to run me through with your godsforsaken sword when I start spitting trivia on a life you don’t remember.”

“Fine!” The clouds started to recede. “I don’t want to go back to Camp Jupiter but I don’t think I fit in at Camp Half-Blood either. I don’t want to fight. I don’t want to be who I was, but I don’t think I can learn who I am when I’m stuck being some dick on a pedestal. I want to go to a mortal school and just be a summer camper.” The dam opened, and suddenly Jason was reeling off all his problems, finally giving word to every thought he’d carefully tucked in the back of his mind not to think about. “I don’t know who I am without a sword in my hand, but the way I’m going,I’m either gonna die on the battlefield or I’m gonna die in thirty, forty years in New Rome, unable to step away from the fight because it’s all I am.” His voice broke. “I need to leave. I need a normal life. I want to go to a normal school, and travel the world, and do stupid shit that won’t get anyone killed, and date people that can’t sense my emotions and make friends with people that won’t cause earthquakes or crack marble when they’re angry.” 

He waited for every inch of vulnerability Nico had shown to him disappeared. He anticipated some blink-and-you’d-miss-it moment, the boy Jason had formed a tentative but important friendship with disappearing, leaving the powerful warrior Jason knew was lurking beneath, like some armadillo of death. Instead, Nico just cocked his head, surprise and empathy plain across his features.

“Oh.” Nico sounded genuinely shocked. “I. I don’t really.. Um. You..you’d need to catch up to modern educational requirements. You’re legally dead, too, so I suppose you’d have to fix that. Dad likes you so. I, er, I suppose private school is an option. Too. Or accommodation if you want to go outside of California. I can jump across half the world in a second, so I suppose I’d be quite useful for travelling, if you’d ever want me along.”

Jason blinked, unsure of how to proceed. “You..you don’t think I should stay? I thought. Well, you’re Roman. I thought you’d remind me of my duties. Of..I don’t know.. I suppose,” he stammered uncertainly. 

Nico shrugged, and the smile he flashed Jason was so gentle and heartbreaking that Jason was still reeling once it was tucked away behind his mask. “Jason, how much have you given, for the gods? How many years of your life have you traded away for a stable home? You’ve earned this. Besides,” he laughed awkwardly. “I know how compelling freedom is. I’ve had that, and I needed a home. New Rome is everything I’ve ever wanted, but only because I spent so long on my own, never tied down. You? Jay, you can literally control the winds, and you’ve never thought to just let them take you somewhere. Of course I understand.” 

Before Jason could think about how simultaneously disappointing and relieving Nico’s words were, or about how sad Nico’s smiles were, the doors of the throne room blasted open with a gust of scorching air.

A disembodied voice said:  _ Lord Auster will see you now. _

Jason felt relieved - sort of. He’d gotten his identity crisis off his chest, and now he was going to go argue with a crazy wind god. Considering how the balcony had started shaking again amidst the distraction of the door opening, he figured arguing with Auster was probably going to be safer than using the son of Hades as a therapist. He turned to tell Nico goodbye, but the other boy had disappeared, leaving no trace he’d been there asides the new patterns on the floor.

——

It was a storm day. Auster, the Roman version of the South Wind, was holding court.

The two previous days, Jason had dealt with Notys. While the gods Greek version was fiery and quick to anger, at least he was  _ quick _ . Auster.. well, not so much.

White and red marble columns lined the throne room. The rough sandstone floor smoked under Jason’s shoes. Steam hung in the air, like the bathhouse back at Camp Jupiter, except bathhouses usually didn’t have thunderstorms crackling across the ceiling, lighting the room in disorienting flashes.

Southern  _ venti _ swirled through the hall in clouds of red dust and superheated ait. Jason was careful to stay away from them. On his first day here, he’d accidentally brushed his hand through one, and gotten so many blisters his fingers looked like tentacles. 

At the end of the room was the strangest throne Jason had ever seen - made of equal parts fire and water. The dais was a bonfire, flame and smoke curled up to make a seat, the back of the chair was a churning storm cloud, and the armrests sizzled where moisture met fire. It didn’t look very comfortable, but Auster lounged on it like he was ready for an easy afternoon of watching football. 

Standing, the god would’ve been about ten feet tall. A crown of steam wreathed his shaggy white hair, and his beard was made of clouds that constantly popped with lightning and rained down on his chest, soaking his sand coloured toga. Jason wondered if you could shave a thundercloud beard. He thought it might be annoyed to rain on yourself all the time, but Auster didn’t really seem to care. He reminded Jason of a soggy Santa Claus, but more lazy than jolly. 

“So..” The god’s voice rumbled like an oncoming front. “The son of Jupiter returns.”

Auster made it sound like Jason was late, and he barely resisted the urge to remind the prick that he spent hours waiting outside every day to be called. Jason called upon every minute he’d spent in the senate, holding himself back from body slamming Octavian just to make Ni-Reyna laugh, and managed to pull off a bow that he hoped didn’t look sarcastic. 

“My lord,” he said. “Have you received any news of my friend?” 

“Friend?” 

“Leo Valdez.”  _ You can’t fight a god,  _ Jason reminded himself forcefully.  _ You can’t fight a god.  _ “The one who was taken by the winds.” 

“Oh..yes. Or rather, no. We have had no word. He was not taken by  _ my  _ winds. No doubt this was the work of Boreas or his spawn.” 

_ You can’t fight a god.  _ “Uh, yes. We knew that.” 

“That is the only reason I took you in, of course.” Auster’s eyebrows rose into his wreath of steam. “Boreas must be opposed! The north winds must be driven back!” 

“Yes, my Lord.” Jason raised his eyes heavenward, and hoped that somewhere on Olympus, his dad was getting a right fucking laugh out of this. “But to oppose Boreas we really need to get our ship out of the harbour.” 

“Ship in the harbour!” The god leaned back and chuckled, rain pouring out of his beard. “You know the  _ last _ time mortal ships came into my harbour? A King of Libya...Psyollos was his name. He blamed  _ me _ for the scorching winds for the scorching winds that burned his crops. Can you believe it?” 

Jason gritted his teeth. He’d learned that Auster couldn’t be rushed. In his rainy form, he was sluggish and random. 

“And did you burn those crops, my Lord?” 

“Of course!” Auster smiled good-naturedly. “But what did Psyollos expect, planting crops at the edge of the Sahara? The fool launched his entire fleet against me. He intended to destroy my stronghold, so the south wind could never blow again. I destroyed his fleet, of course.” 

“Of course.” Jason pictured a nice, normal mortal school, where he didn’t have to play nice with stupid wind gods or have conversations about his feelings with snarky sons of Pluto that made him feel like he was knitting with a live wire. 

Auster narrowed his eyes. “You aren’t with Psyollos, are you?” 

“No, Lord Auster. I’m Jason Grace, son of-“

“Jupiter! Yes, of course. I like sons of Jupiter. But why are you still in my harbour?” 

_ Normal people. No monsters. Football practice. Learning how to do algebra. Whatever else it was that mortals did in high school. Piper had mentioned - cheerleaders?  _

_ “ _ We don’t have your permission to leave, my Lord. Also, our ship is damaged. We need our mechanic, Leo Valdez, to repair the engine, unless you know another way.” 

“Hmm.” Auster held up his fingers and let a dust devil swirl between them like a baton. “You know, some people accuse me of being fickle. Some days I am the scorcher wind, the destroyer of crops, the sirocco from Africa! Other days I am gentle, heralding the warm summer rain and cooling dogs of the southern Mediterranean. And in the off-season I have a lovely place in Cancun! At any rate, in ancient times, mortals both feared me and loved me. For a god, unpredictability can be a strength.” 

“Then you are truly strong,” Jason said.

“Thank you! Yes! But the same is not true of demigods.” Auster leaned forwards, close enough that Jason could smell rain-soaked fields and hot sandy beaches. “You remind me of my own children, Jason Grace. You have blown from place to place, undecided, yet trapped by responsibility. You change from day to day, but only ever below the surface. If you could turn the wind sock, which way would it blow?” 

Sweat trickled between Jason’s shoulder blades. “Excuse me?” 

“You say you need a navigator. You need my permission. I say you need neither. It is time to choose a direction. A wind that blows aimlessly is of no use to anyone.” 

“I don’t..I don’t understand.” 

Even as he said it, he  _ did _ understand. Nico had mentioned how New Rome was only compelling because it was a place of rest to a weary traveller. Jason was a son of open skies and heaving storms, by nature he was just as untameable and wild as Tempest.  _ Of course _ Camp Jupiter was stifling with its rules and regulations and boundaries and limitations - winds didn’t like to be contained. 

For months, Jason had been wrestling with the question of where he belonged. He’d always chafed against the traditions of Camp Jupiter, the power plays, the infighting, and with Nico having stepped up to take his place, he wasn’t tied there anymore. But Camp Half Blood didn’t hold a home for him either - as Nico had described it, there was something  _ wrong _ about being there, something unsettling and discomforting on a bone deep level. One day, he’d work to combine the two, with Nico and Annabeth and Leo and every other genius or teleporter who could help him make a home for those like Annabeth, who needed the hope of a future that New Rome provided, for those like Nico, who had just needed love and attention to allow him to grow past what people though he was, for people like Leo, who found stability appealing and yet simultaneously terrifying, who needed to leave sometimes, just to have control over what he thought was something impermanent.   


And for people like Jason, who loved his home at Camp Jupiter, loved those like Nico and Reyna who had seen past his father and his lack of a birthday, and Piper and Leo who’d seen past his amnesia and lack of identity, who loved the camaraderie and childishness of Camp Half Blood, but who couldn’t bear to be restrained by either camp, who needed a place to crash and people to love, but who needed to be free. 

Jason took a shaky breath. “Yes. I know the direction I want to take.” 

“Good! And?” 

“Uh, we still need a way to fix the ship. Is there-?” 

Auster raised an index finger. “Still expecting guidance from the wind lords? A son of Jupiter should know better.” 

Jason hesitated. “We’re leaving, Lord Auster. Today.” 

The wind god grinned and spread his hands. “At last, you announce your purpose! Then you have my permission to go, though you do not need it. And how will you sail without your engineer, without your engines fixed?” 

Jason felt the south winds zipping around him, whinnying in challenge like headstrong mustangs, testing his will. He thought of Tempest, wild and uncontrollable, but willing to lend a hand to his friend. 

All week, he had been waiting, hoping Auster would decide for him. For months he had worried about his obligations to Camp Jupiter, and his debts to Camp Half Blood, hoping his path would become clear. Now, he realised, he simply had to take what he wanted. He had been trying to impose his will upon the winds without knowing what he wanted, but now he knew: if he asked, they would help. 

“You’re going to help us,” Jason said. “Your  _ venti _ , can take the form of horses. You’ll give us a team to pull the  _ Argo II _ . They’ll lead us to wherever Leo is.”

“Wonderful!” Auster beamed, his beard flashing with electricity. “Now.. can you make good on those bold words? Can you control what you ask for, or will you be torn apart?” 

The god clapped his hands. Winds swirled around his throne and took the form of horses. These weren’t dark and cold like Tempest, they were made of fire, sand, and hot thunderstorm. Four of them raced past, their head singeing the hair off Jason’s arms. They galloped around the marble columns, spitting flames, neighing with a sound like sand mastered the more they ran, the wilder they became. They started to eye Jason. 

Auster stroked his rainy beard. “Do you know why the  _ venti _ can appear as horses, my boy? Every so often, we wind gods travel the earth in equine form. On occasion, we’ve been known to sire the fastest of all horses.” 

“Thanks,” Jason muttered, though his teeth were chattering with fear. “Too much information.” 

One of the  _ venti  _ charged at Jason. He ducked aside, his clothes smoking from the close call. 

“Sometimes,” Auster continued cheerfully, “mortals recognise our divine blood. They will say,  _ That horse runs like the wind _ . And for good reason. Like the fastest stallions, the  _ venti  _ are our children!” 

The wind horses began to circle Jason. 

“Like my friend, Tempest,” he ventured. 

“Oh, well..” Auster scowled. “I fear that one is a child of Boreas. How you tamed him, I will never know. These are my own offspring, a fine team of southern winds. Control them, son of Jupiter, and they will pull your ship from the harbour.” 

But he hadn’t tamed Tempest. He’d recognised a familiar creature of wind and storm, and he’d asked for help. 

They ran back and forth, working up a frenzy. Like their master the South Wind, they were conflicted - half hot, dry sirocco, half stormy thunderhead. 

These horses were kindred spirits too - a part of himself he hadn’t studied too closely, the rage that had brewed instantly at Nico’s distance, the fury that Medea and the eidolon had been able to feed on - so alight with anger and frustration at all times that he was easy to twist against his friends. He was as much the lightning sparking forest fires as he was the endless rain flooding entire cities, the blistering savannah winds destroying harvests as much as the merciless mountain gales flattening trees and homes, the warm breeze heralding change as much as the first rain after months of drought. 

He asked for help. 

In that moment, he  _ chose  _ himself. Not Jason the legend - Praetor Grace, son of Jupiter, hero of Rome, Not Jason the warrior - Jason Grace, brother of Thalia, champion of Hera. Just… Jason the boy, Jason the storm, Jason. The horses didn’t change, he didn’t have some magical moment of transformation like in the cartoons he remembered watching with Hazel, but the heat no longer burned him. He laid claim to every aspect of himself. 

“Well done,” said the god. 

The throne looked appealing now. Jason understood the beauty in the amalgamation, instead of hating the way the elements warred with each other. 

“What are you waiting for?” Auster prompted. 

Jason turned towards the horses. Suddenly he wasn’t afraid of them.

He thrust out his hand. A swirl of dust shot towards the nearest horse. A lasso - a rope of wind, more tightly wound than any tornado - wrapped around the horse’s neck. The beast stopped and nuzzled his shoulder. 

Jason summoned another wind rope. He lashed a second horse, not binding it to his will, just a gentle guide. In less than a minute, he had tethered all four  _ venti _ . He reined them in, allowed them to inspect him, standing tall to let them see that he was every bit as unbreakable as they were. He felt their acceptance like he could usually sense Tempest’s fondness, not actual communication like Percy had with Blackjack, but a common understanding. 

“Very good, Jason Grace,” Auster said. “You have chosen your own path - as all the greatest demigods have done before you. You may be a son of Jupiter - you can not control your parentage - but I feel the legacy you have chosen will be great. You have my respect. Now go, lash hour team to the prow and direct them towards Malta.” 

“Malta?” Jason tried to focus, but his head was filled with images of a future he so desperately wanted. A high school diploma, a degree, a place in the countryside, and two camps he could return to, two families. He forced himself to pay attention. He knew nothing about Malta, except for some vague story about a Maltese Falcon. Were malts invented there?”

“Once you arrive in the city of Valletta,” Austere said, “you will no longer need these horses, although if I’m right about how you brought them to heel, they will be just as quick to come to your call as Tempest.” 

“You mean.. we’ll find Leo there?” 

The god shimmered, slowly fading into waves of heat. “Your destiny grows clearer, Jason. When the choice comes again - storm or fire - remember me. And do not despair.” 

The doors of the throne room burst open. The horses, smelling freedom, bolted for the exit. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Please let me know if you did, or if you have any thoughts at all about this! I have a couple one shots lined up in verse, so please let me know if you’d prefer them once the whole story is out, or just as and when they’re finished? :)) 
> 
> Come find me on [Tumblr ](https://MaybeIWantTheOceanToBurn.tumblr.com/) to have a chat :) 
> 
> (Also feel free to point out any spelling or grammatical errors throughout :) )


	9. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo’s back, baby!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay this is like, a lot later in the day than I would’ve liked, but I apologise in advance for the next week or two - I’ve got a med school entrance exam coming up so I’m a bit swamped, lol :) 
> 
> Anywho, enjoy :))

At sixteen, most kids would stress about parallel parking tests, getting a driver’s licence, and affording a car. 

Jason stressed about a lot of things, including but not limited to: his missing memories. Nico di Angelo and his heartbroken eyes and his smile that made Jason’s stomach do flips, but that made his brain scream  _ Danger! _ Reyna, flying across the globe to join them just because she loved him, most likely battling her way through armies of monsters, just to get to him and Nico. Leo, hopefully waiting in Malta after being blasted into the sky. Piper, who couldn’t quite meet his eyes, but joined him whenever he asked to help him figure himself out. Percy and Annabeth in Tartarus. Hazel and Frank, who should’ve been his closest friends here, next to his fellow Praetor, but who he didn’t know, couldn’t seem to know. 

First and foremost, however, were the team of fiery horses dragging the  _ Argo II  _ across the Mediterranean. 

After making sure his friends were aboard and safely below deck, Jason had lashed the  _ venti _ to the prow of the ship, (firmly against Festus’ wishes), straddled the figurehead, and, feeling like some shitty cowboy movie character, yelled, “Giddyup!” 

Now, the  _ venti  _ were tearing across the waves. They weren’t quite as fast as Hazel’s horse, Arion, but they had a lot more heat. They kicked up a rooster trail of steam that made it almost impossible for Jason to see where they were going. The ship shot out of the bay. In no time Africa was a blurry line on the horizon behind them. 

Maintaining the wind ropes took all of Jason’s concentration, and a great deal of his strength, too. The horses had agreed to his request, but they were still wild spirits who chomped at the bit in anticipation of freedom and hated the feel of anything restricting them. He had a feeling that the second they reached Malta, his new friends would be gone. 

_ Malta.  _ He reminded them gently.  _ Straight to Malta.  _

By the time land finally appeared in the distance - a hilly island carpeted with low stone buildings - Jason was soaked in sweat. His arms felt rubbery, like the time he’d pissed off Reyna and she’d made him stand with a barbell held straight out in front of him for ages. For a second, he had a feeling that Nico had been there too, laughing at him, but then the memory was gone, snatched back into the Nether it had escaped from. 

He hoped they’d reached the right place, he could feel the horses getting impatient, and he had no desire to try and implement his will forcefully. He didn’t want to be that guy. Besides, tired as he was, it likely wouldn’t work. Right now, he felt like summoning a small breeze to cool himself down would knock him out for a month.. He released the wind reins. The  _ venti  _ dissolved into a whirlwind of sand and steam that brushed up against his cheek in an unhelpful gust of blisteringly hot air, before dissipating. 

Exhausted, Jason climbed down from the prow. He learnt against Festus’ neck. The dragon turned and gave him a chin hug. 

“Thanks, man,” Jason said, voice hoarse. “Rough day, huh?” 

Behind him, the deck boards framed. 

“Jason?” Piper called. “Oh, gods, your arms..” 

He hadn’t noticed, but his skin was littered with painful looking blisters. He looked like he’d plunged his arms into a vat of boiling water up to his elbows. His hands felt numb. 

Piper unwrapped a square of ambrosia. “Here,” she smiled at him, a little awkward. “Eat this.” 

He chewed. His mouth was filled with the taste of fresh brownies - his favourite treat from the bakeries in New Rome. The blisters faded into little white pockmarks, stark against his new tan. His strength returned, but the brownie ambrosia tasted more bitter than usual, as if it somehow knew that Jason was turning his back on Camo Jupiter. This was no longer the taste of home. He spared a moment to wonder what it would taste like in a year's time, if his new goals would lead him to discover something new that comforted him so much the food of the gods took its flavour. 

“Thanks, Pipes,” he forced his eyes to stay open.. “How long was I -?”

“About six hours.”

Wow, Jason thought. No wonder he felt sore and hungry. “The others?” 

“All fine. Tired of being cooped up. Should I tell them it’s safe to come above deck?” 

He licked his dry lips. Despite the ambrosia, he felt shaky and bone tired. He didn’t want the others to see him like this. “Give me a second,” he managed. “...catch my breath.” 

Piper leaned against Festus next to him. In her green tank top, her beige shorts and her hiking boots, she looked like she was ready to climb a mountain - and then fight an army at the top. Her dagger was strapped to her belt, her cornucopia was slung over one shoulder, and she’d taken to wearing the jagged bronze sword she’d recovered from Zethes. It was only slightly less intimidating than an assault rifle. She’d started building muscle too, and the combination made for a powerful image. She looked like what Jason imagined an Amazonian warrior to look like. 

During their time at Auster’s palace, Jason had watched Piper and Hazel spent hours sword fighting, sometimes even under Nico’s tutelage - something Piper had never expressed an interest in before. Since her encounter with Khione, Piper seemed more wired, tensed up inside like a primed catapult, as if she were determined to never be caught off guard again. He understood where she was coming from - he’d spent the fight against Khione as a freeze-dried rug, after all - but he worried she was pushing herself too hard. 

Now that Hera’s mystical magical mind fuckery had cleared off, he felt different, looking at her. She was still beautiful, but it felt less important now. She was beautiful in the way Annabeth was beautiful, in the way Reyna and Will Solace from Camp Half Blood were beautiful - her beauty was distant, unattainable, and unimportant. Jason noticed it, for sure, but then he tucked it away in the back of his mind and continued on with his thoughts, instead of getting caught on the way the light caught her eyes like he had before.

He must have been staring, because she raised an eyebrow. “Jace?” 

He blinked. “Oh. Um. I just..can I..” he fidgeted awkwardly, ears burning with embarrassment. “Can I, erm, can I hug you? It’s okay if you don’t want to or if it’s still awkward, but I just... I guess I didn’t notice how often I hugged you and Leo, until suddenly I stopped.” Gods above, he sounded like an idiot. In the brief second it took her to reply, his brain raced a mile a minute, insisting he’d shown some gods-awful weakness that she’d now condemn him for. What was it Lupa had said?  _ Wolves can smell weakness, pup. They won’t hesitate just because you’re cute or friendly. Be powerful, unbreakable.  _

“Oh, Jace..” she perched on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’ve missed you too, you big lug.” 

He fought back the building urge to break down and start sobbing in her arms. He hated this, hated this whole quest. He wanted to be anywhere but drifting across the Mediterranean, trying to stop the apocalypse. “I’m lucky to have you. I’m sorry for forgetting that.” He kisses her temple carefully. 

“You didn’t forget it, you just got confused over what you needed me for.” She kissed his cheek gently, then stepped back. “Now, how do we get this ship to the docks?” 

Jason frowned across the water. They were still half a mile out from the island. He had no idea whether they could get the engine working, or the sails.. 

Fortunately, it seemed Festus had been listening. He faced front and blew a plume of fire. The ship’s engine clattered and hummed. It sounded like a massive bike with a busted chain - but they lurched forward. Slowly, the  _ Argo II _ headed towards the shore. 

“Good dragon.” Piper patted Festus’s neck. 

The dragon’s ruby eyes glinted as if he was pleased with himself. 

“He seems different since you woke him,” Jason said. “More…alive.”

“The way he  _ should  _ be.” Piper smiled. “I guess once in a while we all need a wake-up call from somebody who loves us.” 

Standing next to her, Jason was reminded of what he’d said to Nico. He had to tell her, there was no way he could plan this kind of thing by himself, not without his best friends. “Pipes..once we’ve got Leo..I need to talk to the both of you. It’s important. It’s about the future.”

Piper nodded immediately. “Of course, Jace. Is everything okay? Are  _ you  _ okay?” 

“I think so. Or at least it will be. I will be.” 

It felt almost daring to make a plan to tell them about his thoughts, like he was challenging the Fates to kill him before they came to fruition. If he were Percy, Jupiter likely would’ve struck him down there and then for being so outrageously stupid. As it was, grey clouds just gathered ominously at the edge of his vision, like his dad was warning him not to hope too hard. 

_ When the choice comes again,  _ Auster had said,  _ storm or fire - remember me. And do not despair.  _

The closer they got to Greece, the more dread settled in Jason’s chest. He was starting to think Piper was right about the  _ storm or fire  _ line in the prophecy - one of them, Jason or Leo, would not come back from this voyage alive. 

Which was why they  _ had  _ to find Leo. As much as Jason wanted to live, actively didn’t want to die,for the first time in his admittedly untrustworthy memory, his sudden zest for life was rooted in the people around him. He couldn’t lose Leo, couldn’t lose any of them, but especially not one of his best friends. 

Of course he hoped he was wrong. He hoped they both came out of this quest okay. But, if not, Jason had to be prepared. He would protect his friends and stop Gaia - whatever it took. Not for the gods, not for Juno, but for the girl in front of him, the boy waiting in Malta, the crew below, their missing friends in Tartarus, and the girl flying towards them at an impossible speed. For his family, he would do anything. 

_ Do not despair.  _

Yeah. Easy for an immortal wind god to say.

As the island grew closer, Jason saw docks bristling with sails. From the rocky shoreline rose fortress-like seawalls - fifty or sixty feet tall. Above that sprawled a medieval-looking city of church spires, domes and tightly wedged buildings, all made of the same golden stone. From where Jason stood, it looked as if the city covered every inch of the island. 

He scanned the boats in the harbour. A hundred yards ahead, tied to the end of the longest dock, was a makeshift raft with a simple mash and a square canvas sail. On the back, the rudder was wired to some sort of machine. Even from this distance, Jason could see the glint of Celestial bronze.

Jason grinned. Only one demigod would make a boat like that, and he’d moored it as far out in the harbour as possible, where the  _ Argo II _ couldn’t fail to spot it.

“Get the others,” Jason told Piper. He watched her face light up as she noticed the boat and came to the same conclusion. The smile she shot him was as broad as the one he could feel splitting his face. “Leo’s here.” 

——

They found Leo at the top of the city fortifications. He was sitting at an open-air cafe, overlooking the sea, drinking a cup of coffee and dressed in..wow. Time warp. Leo’s outfit was identical to the one he’d worn the day they first arrived at Camp Half-Blood - jeans, a white shirt and an old army jacket. Except that jacket had burned up months ago. 

Before anyone could move, Jason was lifting him clean out of his seat in what was likely a very smothering bear hug. “I missed you so fucking much, buddy,” He muttered, automatically patting him down for any glaring injuries.

Leo clung back just as tightly. “I missed you too, Superman.” 

Piper didn’t bother to wait, she just wrapped her arms as best she could around the pair of them. “Leo! Gods, where have you been?” 

“Valdez!” Coach Hedge grinned. Then he seemed to remember he had a reputation to protect and he forced a scowl. “You ever disappear like that again, you little punk, I’ll knock you into next month!” 

Once Leo eventually squirmed his way out of Jason’s grip, Frank patted Leo on the back so hard it made him wince. Even Nico bumped knuckles with him, which left Leo looking positively charmed. 

Hazel kissed Leo on the cheek. “We thought you were dead!” 

Leo mustered a faint smile. “Hey, guys. Nah, nah. I’m good.” 

Jason could tell he  _ wasn’t  _ good. Leo wouldn’t meet their eyes. His hands were perfectly still on the table. Leo’s hands were  _ never  _ still. All the nervous energy had drained right out of him, replaced by a kind of wistful sadness. 

Jason wondered why his expression seemed familiar. Then he realised that his reflection looked the same way every time a memory flirted through his mind, only to vanish before he could fully remember the whole story. 

Leo had lost something, someone. 

As the others grabbed chairs from the nearby tables, Jason leaned in and squeezed his friend’s shoulder. “Hey, man,” he said, “what happened?” 

Leo’s eyes swept around the group. The message was clear:  _ Not here. Not in front of everyone.  _

“I got marooned,” Leo said. “Long story. How about you guys? What happened with Khione?” 

Coach Hedge snorted. “What happened?  _ Piper  _ happened! I’m telling you, this girl has skills!” 

“Coach..” Piper protested.

Hedge began retelling the story, but in his version Piper was a Kung fu assassin, and there were a lot more Boreads. 

As the coach talked, Jason studied Leo with concern. This café had a perfect view of the harbour. Leo must have seen the  _ Argo II _ sail in. Yet he’d sat here drinking coffee - which he didn’t even  _ like _ \- waiting for them to find him. That wasn’t like Leo at all. The ship was the most important thing in his life. When he saw it coming to rescue him, Leo should have run down to the docks, whooping at the top of his lungs. 

Coach Hedge was just describing how Piper had defeated Khione with a roundhouse kick when Piper interrupted. 

“Coach!” She said. “It didn’t happen like that at all. I couldn’t have done  _ anything  _ without Festus.”

Leo raised his eyebrows. “But Festus was reactivated.”

“Um. About that,” Piper said. “I sort of woke him up.”

Piper explained her version of events - how she’d rebooted the metal dragon with charmspeak. 

Leo rapped his fingers on the table, like some of his old energy was coming back. 

“Shouldn’t be possible,” he murmured, absently, like he was talking to himself. “Unless the upgrades let him respond to voice commands. But if he’s permanently activated, that means the navigation system, and the Crystal..” 

“Crystal?” Jason asked.

Leo flinched. “Um, nothing. Anyway, what happened after the wind bomb went off?” 

Hazel took up the story. A waitress came over and offered them menus, and in no time they were chowing down on sandwiches and sodas, enjoying the sunny day almost like a group of regular teenagers. 

Frank grabbed a tourist brochure under the napkin dispenser and began to read it. Piper patted Leo’s arm, like she couldn’t believe he was really here. Nico bounced a small ball of inky blackness off various things - the edge of the table, the pommel of Hazel’s  _ spatha _ , Frank’s shoulder - the same way Jason remembered seeing Percy bounce impossible spheres of water off the ceiling of the mess hall. Jason wondered if he could do something like that, if he’d ever regain his powers enough to use them for inconsequential moments of fun. 

Despite the happy reunion, everybody seemed more subdued than usual - like they were picking up on Leo’s mood. Jason had never really considered how important Leo’s sense of humour was to the group. Even when things were super serious, they could always depend on him to lighten things up. Now, it felt like the whole team had dropped anchor. 

“So then Jason harnessed the  _ venti _ ,” Hazel finished. “And here we are.” 

Leo whistled. “Hot-air? Dang, superman. So basically, you held a bunch of gas together all the way to Malta and then you let it loose.” 

Jason tried his best to frown, faking offence. “You know, the things I do never sound as heroic once you’re done retelling them.” 

“Yeah, well. I’m an expert on hot air. I’m still wondering, why Malta? I just kind of ended up here on the raft, but was that a random thing, or -?” 

“Maybe because of this.” Frank tapped his brochure. “Says here Malta was where Calypso lived.” 

A pint of blood drained from Leo’s face. “W-what, now?” 

Frank shrugged. “According to this, her original home was an island called Gozo just north of here. Calypso’s a Greek myth thingie, right?” 

“Ah, a Greek myth thingie!” Coach Hedge tubbed his hands together. “Maybe we get to fight her! Do we get to fight her? ‘Cause I’m ready.” 

“No,” Leo murmured. “No, we don’t have to fight her, Coach.” 

Before Piper could say something, like she clearly wanted to, Nico cleared his throat. “You went to Ogygia, didn’t you?” 

Leo startled, panicked evident across his features for a moment before his face smoothed. “What are you on about, man?” Jason had never heard his voice so tight, caught in an obvious lie. 

Nico just shrugged. Sometimes it was like he forgot that some things weren’t okay for public conversation, or that others were clearly uncomfortable discussing them, like if it was important in some way, that came before anyone’s opinion on talking about it. He pressed on. “Calypso has an interesting life signature. Percy met her, a couple years ago. He felt the same the first time I saw him after as you do now. Anyways, Malta will just have been because it’s not too far from Auster’s palace. When Percy returned, he showed up in the Long Island sound. During his own funeral, according to Annabeth. Nobody downstairs will tell me much, but the raft’s navigation system works on convenience.” 

No one took the time to tease or mock him for being the kind of nerd that would research the navigation system of a magical raft from a mythical island. Jason supposed that comments like that were Leo’s job. 

“Oh. Um. Yeah, I guess.” Leo forced a half smile.

Piper finally burst. “Leo, what’s wrong?” 

“Nothing’s wrong!” Leo shot to his feet. “Hey, we should get going. We’ve got work to do!” 

“But..where’s Ogygia?” Hazel asked. “And who, or what, is Calypso?” 

“Jeez, ladies!” Leo said. “I appreciate the concern, but I don’t need two extra moms!” 

All eyes turned to Nico, but he simply shook his head. So now he had tact. “He would’ve been safe there.” Was all he said. 

Piper smiled, obviously uncertain. “Okay, but-“ 

“Ships to fix!” Leo interrupted, manic smile plastered across his features. “Festus to check! Earth goddesses to punch in the face! What are we waiting for? Leo’s back!” 

He spread his arms and grinned.

He was making a brave attempt, but Jason could see the sadness lingering in his eyes. Something had happened to him.. something to do with Calypso. 

Jason tried to remember the stories about her. She was a sorceress of some sort, maybe like Medea or Circe. But, if Leo had just escaped from an evil sorceress’s lair, why did he seek so sad? Jason would have liked to talk to him later, make sure his buddy was okay. For now, Leo clearly didn’t want to be interrogated. 

Jason got up and wrapped an arm around Leo’s shoulders. “Leo’s right. We should get going.” 

Everybody took their cue. They started wrapping up their food and finishing their drinks.

Suddenly, Hazel gasped. “Guys..” 

She pointed to the northeast horizon. At first, Jason saw nothing but the sea. Then a streak of darkness shot into the air like black lightning - as if pure night had torn through the daytime. 

“I don’t see anything,” Coach Hedge grumbled. 

“Me neither,” Piper said. 

Jason scanned his friends’ faces. Most of them just looked confused. Nico and Hazel looked oddly invigorated, like they’d just downed a glass of nectar.

“That can’t be..” Nico muttered. His eyes, usually alight with a manic fire that reminded Jason uncomfortably of his conversation with Pluto, glittered unnaturally. “Greece is still hundreds of miles away.” 

The darkness flashed again, momentarily leaching the colour from the horizon. 

“You think it’s Epirus?” Jason’s whole skeleton tingled, the way he felt when he got hit by a thousand volts. Which, he supposed, explained how lively Nico and Hazel suddenly looked, if they could feel it too. He didn’t know why he could see the flashes, he wasn’t a child of the Underworld, but it gave him a very bad feeling. 

Nico nodded. When he spoke his voice was serious, and even more somber than usual. “The House of Hades is open for business.” 

A few seconds later, a rumbling sound washed over them like distant artillery. 

“It’s begun,” Hazel said.

“What has?” Leo asked. 

When the next flash happened, Hazel’s gold eyes darkened like foil in fire. “Gaia’s final push,” she said. “The Doors of Death are working overtime. Her forces are entering the mortal world en masse.” 

“We’ll never make it,” Nico said, scrubbing a hand over his face. “By the time we arrive, there’ll be too many monsters to fight.” 

Jason set his jaw. “We’ll defeat them. And we’ll make it there fast. We’ve got Leo back. He’ll give us the speed we need. 

He turned to his friend. “Or is that just hot air?” 

Leo managed a crooked grin. His eyes seemed to say:  _ Thanks.  _

“Time to fly, boys and girls,” he said. “Uncle Leo’s got a few tricks up his sleeves!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment or kudos are much appreciated if you enjoy, constructive criticism is welcome! Come find me on tumblr under the same name :)


	10. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The arrival at Epirus :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ik it’s technically Tuesday, but I’ve got my med school entrance exam in like,,, two days so.. whoops? That’s also the reason for any mistakes/shitty editing because it’s like two am rn lol 
> 
> Anywho, please enjoy some Nico and Jason banter lol

Jason was pretty sure he wasn’t the only one who expected something...more, when they arrived at Epirus. 

Frank had completed a circle that spanned through three thousand years and stretched around the globe - Greece, Eastern Rome, China, Canada, and finally Greece again. 

Hazel and Nico had stepped through time itself to make it here, had traipsed through Asphodel and Tartarus and had overcome obstacles like death and prejudice and culture shock. 

Leo and Piper had woken up one day at a Wilderness school in Nevada with Coach Hedge, and bounced around the mythological world ever since, defeating villains of all kinds, Medea, Minos, Encladeus, Khione, their own demons, traipsing after some idiot who’d ended up on a bus with them, and had finally ended up here, stood at the bow of the  _ Argo II,  _ to see it through. 

And Jason, who’d already lived a life he could only remember in stops and starts and half seen glimpses, who’d found a family of wolves, a family of soldiers, and finally a family of overpowered misfits, who’d stepped onto a ship with him, ready to sacrifice their lives for a common goal. 

There should have been  _ something _ .

Instead, the only welcoming committee was a flock of wild, hungry harpies who attacked the ship. Jason could see Frank looking guilty as be shot them down with his bow, and he remembered the story Hazel had told him about Ella, a freakishly smart harpie that Frank, Hazel and Percy had met during their quest. 

The Greek landscape below was just as inhospitable - the hills were strewn with boulders and stunted cedars, all shimmering in the hazy air. The sun beat down as if trying to hammer the countryside into a Celestial bronze shield. Even from a hundred feet up, Jason could hear the drone of cicadas buzzing in the trees - a sleepy, otherworldly sound that made his eyes heavy. 

“Hot and steamy!” Leo grinned at the helm. “Makes me homesick for Houston! What do you say, Hazel? All we need now are some giant mosquitos, and it’ll feel just like the Gulf Coast!” 

“Thanks a lot, Leo,” Hazel grumbled. “We’ll probably get attacked by Ancient Greek mosquito monsters now.” 

Jason studied the two of them, pushing past the headache that always surfaced when his past and present were so firmly forced into juxtaposition. Leo was different now, and although he sometimes caught Frank’s relieved sighs when jokes right there for the taking weren’t cracked at his expense, and even felt himself, sometimes, like it was easier to make it through a conversation, he missed the old Leo. 

Jason didn’t care that every third word out of Leo’s mouth had been a reminder that the boy in front of him was a million times smarter than he’d ever be, he didn’t care that when Leo got sleepy, he’d spoken to his machines in Spanish or Creak’n’Squeak, hell, he didn’t even care that Leo hadn’t really needed him a lot of the time, Jason had just been an opportune wall to bounce ideas off. He’d do anything to have his best friend ramble about engine parts for hours on end while they snuggled up next to Buford the Table in the wee hours, or lecture him and Piper about the proper way to pick a lock or code a game as the three of them crammed themselves into spaces not meant for so many people. 

“There!” Nico’s voice shook Jason out of his thoughts. As usual, the smaller boy was perched atop the foremast - even though the crew had become closer, and Nico had taken on a similar role of leadership to Jason, he still preferred to be higher up as they approached places of interest. Nico pointed towards a glittering green river snaking through the hills a kilometre away. “Manoeuvre us that way. We’re close to the temple.  _ Very  _ close.” 

As if to prove his point, black lightning ripped through the sky, leaving dark spots behind Jason’s eyes and making the hairs on his arms stand up on end. 

“Everyone, arm yourself,” Jason instructed. He strapped his sword to his belt, and began carefully tucking knives into their sheaths, grinning at Piper as he did so. She still hadn’t forgiven him for the time at Camp Half-Blood when they’d gone to help pick up a demigod in Jacksonville, and he’d left them in his cabin, leaving him more of a liability than the kid. “Leo, get us close, but don’t land, no more contact with the ground than necessary. Piper, Hazel, get the mooring ropes.” 

“On it!” Piper said.

Hazel kissed Frank’s cheek and ran to help.

“Frank,” Nico called, appearing next to Jason in a whisper of shadows. “Get below and find Coach Hedge. We want to be ready to go in ten minutes.” 

“Yep!” Frank disappeared below deck. 

It probably should’ve felt weird to have Nico handing out orders alongside him, but whether it was Jason’s Roman Blood recognising a fellow  _ Praetor,  _ or Jupitor’s  _ ichor _ acknowledging the presence of a demigod just as powerful as himself, leading together felt  _ right.  _

The pair of them made their way below deck to the infirmary. They had no idea what kind of state Percy and Annabeth would be in, but if they were anywhere  _ near  _ as badly off as Nico had been - only the Gods knew how he’d been up and at ‘em only days later - they’d need everything they could reasonably carry.

“Jay,” Nico rested a hand on his shoulder. “When we find Percy and Annabeth, we don’t know what state they’re gonna be in. Worst comes to worst, you get Hazel to make a hole to the roof and you fly them out, okay? T-Tartarus..” he trailed off, all colour draining from his face, then steeled himself after a couple of shaky breaths. “After Tartarus, they’re not going to be able to fight, I’d bet against them being conscious, to be honest. If you get a free moment, you need to fly them back here. Hazel and I will be able to shadowtravel everyone out in a worse case scenario, but we’re likely not going to be able to afford the vulnerability of two unconscious team members.” 

Jason nodded. “I understand. In that case. I guess that means no taxing underworld magic from you, though, Neeks. Not if you’re our emergency ticket out.” 

He had no idea where the nickname had come from. It had just slipped out, and now Nico was staring at him like he’d seen a ghost. Well, probably not, actually. Some other, more fitting horror. Maybe a manticore? 

“Did Hazel tell you about that?” Nico’s face was a carefully constructed mask of calm. “It’s okay if she did, I just..” he scuffed the toe of his boot against the deck. “I guess I just haven’t heard it in a while.” 

“No, I, uh..” Jason laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck. “I have no idea, actually. I guess I must’ve remembered it. Is it okay if I call you that or would you rather I didn’t?” 

Shock flashed across Nico’s features. “Oh. No no, I guess it’s okay, if you want to. Anyways, I just. I wanted to make sure you’d get Percy and Annabeth out.” He smiled wryly, “And please, for the love of my father, do not summon a storm when we’re underground.” 

Jason opened his mouth to reply, but Nico cut him off, standing on a shadowy box so they were somewhere near a similar height. Apparently Jason remembering an aspect of their friendship has worked as a confidence boost. “You’ll say you won’t, now, but then you’ll be panicking as we face an army of monsters, and you’ll start doing your  small spaces, don’t worry.” Jason summoned the winds to readjust the height difference. “And you, Mr Doom-and-Gloom, no wearing yourself out to the point where we’re all left to die because our exit route is exhausted and needs carrying.” 

Nico pulled a face, but nodded his acquiescence. “I promise not to do anything overly draining.” He said, and started to walk off. Before he’d gotten more than a few steps away, he whirled around. “One more thing, Percy might try and strangle me, once he wakes up, because of the whole  _ me pretending not to know him _ thing in New Rome, so if you could..I don’t know..not let him, a six foot almost-adult raised on Sally Jackson’s cooking, strangle me, a malnourished, five foot four veritable child, that would be fantastic.” 

“Hmmm,” Jason pretended to consider it. “I dunno, man, that was pretty cold. Maybe I should strangle you myself, or at least let Percy succeed, for letting me, your awesome best friend, suffer alone at Camp Half Blood for like, eight months.” He grinned, mainly to let Nico know he was kidding, but also because the exchange felt natural, and he was relieved to see that their relationship was mending even without his memories. 

“A,” Nico started packing up a bag of ambrosia and bandages, “you’re not my best friend, Reyna is my best friend, you just suggested letting Percy strangle me. B, you weren’t alone, you had the “Super Sized McShizzle” and Beauty Queen over there to help you on your merry way.” Nico’s expression and air quotes conveyed his utter disdain for the nickname Leo had bestowed upon himself, even if his tone remained joking. 

Jason stuck his tongue out. “That’s Admiral McShizzle, to you,” he rummaged through a supply cupboard for the bag Will Solace had handed him before they’d set sail for California. “And besides, I don’t really think it’s my place to get in the way of brotherly rivalries. Imagine if Thalia tried to strangle me, I know you’ve met her, would you really get in her way?” 

Nico waved a hand vaguely. “Depends, is the thing she's strangling you for something I was involved with? Because I’m just as much her honorary little brother as I am Percy’s, she wouldn’t hesitate to strangle me, either.” He pointed to a long, thin scar on his arm. “Believe me when I say if Thalia is trying to strangle you, I will also be strangled, either for helping you, or for not stopping you, or for not including her.” 

“Woah..” Jason stopped rifling through the cupboard. “She cut you? Dude, what the fuck?” 

“It was an accident,” Nico defended. “I shouldn’t have played a prank on her. But anyways, Percy would totally not strangle me if you stepped in.” 

Jason finally found the gold cloth bag Will had given him and checked inside. There was a small note at the top of the bag that read  _ For Emergencies Only :)  _ in barely legible red ink. He almost blushed thinking of the easy smile Will had flashed him when he’d handed the bag over. “Okay, I promise to try and convince Percy not to strangle you, although if he’s really hellbent on it, I might fail. Happy?” 

Nico sniffed delicately. “I suppose that’ll have to do. If he does kill me, make sure they erect a statue in my honour. Something..obsidian? No, I’ve got better control over that than Hazel, for some reason. She’s better with actual metal and earth. Ooh, onyx? Hmm, no. Too plain. Oh!” He pointed at Jason as though he’d been some sort of help. “I know! Make sure Hazel erects a statue in my honour next to the Pluto shrine on Temple Hill, and tell her I want it done in black opal with my real sword as part of it, and tell her I want my tombstone - no, a children of Pluto mausoleum with lots of space for any future kids - constructed from black marble with gold inlay. Think you can pass the message on?” 

“Dude when do you have time to plan this?” Jason rested his arm on Nico’s shoulder obnoxiously, though he snatched it back when Nico made to elbow him in the ribs. “And isn’t obsidian a rock?” 

They made their way back up to deck as Nico lectured Jason on the differences between the kinds of precious metal and gemstones Hazel controlled, and obsidian, a type of volcanic glass. Jason was pretty sure it was all just semantics, probably aided by the fact that obsidian fit Nico’s aesthetic over Hazel’s, but Nico was waving his arms in the air and not pausing to consider how he might be coming across, and it was kind of adorable, so Jason just nodded and made sounds of agreement whenever it seemed necessary. 

By the time they reached the bow, and Piper, Jason was well versed in the minute differences between the physical and magical properties of volcanic rock and normal rock. Looking down below them stopped their conversation immediately. 

The  _ Argo II _ hovered directly over the river. A few hundred metres away at the top of the nearest hill stood a cluster of ruins. They didn’t look like much - just some crumbling walls encircling the limestone shells of a few buildings - but, from somewhere within the ruins, tendrils if black ether curled into the sky, like a smoky squid peeking from its cave. As they watched, a bolt of dark energy ripped through the air, rocking the ship and sending a cold shockwave across the landscape. Nico and Hazel looked oddly alive, and Jason understood what Annabeth had mentioned, months ago, when she’d said that sometimes Nico reminded her scarily of his father. He’d seen it before - when they’d first seen the black energy back in Malta, whenever Nico got particularly angry as they hashed out what Cupid had done to Jason - but here, the children of the Underworld were in their element, and he wondered why he so often underestimated Hazel. It was impossible now, eyes shining with the same cold glint as Imperial gold, Mist making her hard to look straight at. The two of them looked as godly and untouchable as Percy did in the sea. 

“The Necromanteion,” Nico said. His voice was rich with power, and Jason could see in his friends’ faces that they’d forgotten how powerful Hazel and Nico were. They were kind and non-threatening usually, even if Nico was sarcastic and prickly at times, and most of the time on the journey had been spent so far away from the safety of their father’s realm, and the most they usually did was play with shadows and cutlery. This served as a reminder of what they’d forgotten. Frost spread from where Nico’s fingers touched the railing. Jason’s sword felt like it was shaking against his touch, and when he looked around, he realised all their weapons were trying to gravitate towards Hazel. “The House of Hades.” 

Jason tried his best not to feel intimidated. Underground temples to his uncle releasing death energy was as welcoming as the depths of the Ocean. 

Piper hugged her arms. “I feel vulnerable floating up here like this. Couldn’t we set down in the river?” 

“I wouldn’t,” Hazel said. Just like Nico, her voice was.. _ more.  _ “That’s the River Acheron.” 

Jason squinted in the sunlight. “I thought the Acheron was in the Underworld?” 

“It is,” Hazel replied. “But it’s headwaters are in the mortal world. That river below us? Eventually it flows underground, straight into the realm of Pluto - er, Hades. Landing a demigod ship on those waters - “ 

“Yeah, let’s stay up here,” Leo decided. “I don’t want any zombie water on my nice hull.” 

Half a kilometre downstream, some fishing boats were puttering along. Jason guessed they didn’t know or care about the history of this river. He wondered what it must be like, to live your life not having to analyse the history and significance of everything you encountered, lest it end your life. He’d never met another demigod who’d grown up entirely surrounded by it like he had, at least, not a demigod that hadn’t grown up with a family in New Rome - a legacy. 

Nico raised the sceptre of Diocletian. It’s orb flowed with purple light, as if in sympathy with the dark storm. Frank looked uneasy. Jason supposed that made sense. As much as they’d grown to trust Nico, the dead were still unpredictable, and not always under the control of Pluto. There were countless gods who laid claim to a small portion of the dead, and not all of them would be willing to help. Hades, even Frank’s father laid claim to the losing soldiers, although if Frank had any particular skill with that area of Mars’ expertise, Jason hadn’t seen him use it. 

“So, uh, Nico…” Frank gestures at the sceptre. “Have you learned to use that thing?” 

Nico waved a hand in a see saw motion. “I managed to catch a few minutes with my dad last night in a dream, so I know roughly what to expect but..” he stared at the tendrils of darkness undulating from the ruins. “Well, I didn’t think it was a good idea to try it out before I really had to. The Doors of Death are already working overtime bringing in Gaia’s monsters. Any more activity raising the dead and the Doors might shatter permanently, leaving a rip in the mortal world that can’t be closed. Right now, I’d say summoning a ghost to corporeality would be pushing it, nevermind a legion of battle ready soldiers.” 

Coach Hedge grunted. “I hate rips in the world. Let’s go bust some monster heads.” 

“Coach, you should stay on board, over us with the ballista,” Frank said. 

Jason had no idea where that had come from. Neither, it seemed, did Hedge. “Stay behind?” He frowned. “Me? I’m your best soldier!”

“We might need air support,” Frank pressed. “Like we did in Rome. You saved our  _ braccae. _ ”

The pair had some weird non-verbal conversation that Jason wasn’t privy to - he wasn’t entirely sure he  _ wanted  _ to be that in-tune with Coach Hedge - before Hedge seemed to get whatever point Frank had been making. 

“Well…” he grumbled, “I suppose somebody’s gotta save your  _ braccae. _ ” 

Jason clapped the coach on the shoulder, then gave Frank an appreciative nod. He wasn’t sure what had just happened, but Frank was a good guy, so he assumed whatever agreement had been arrived at was a good one. “So that’s settled. Everybody else - let’s go to the ruins. Time to crash Gaia’s party.” 

——

Despite the midday heat and the raging storm of death energy, a group of tourists was climbing over the ruins. Fortunately there weren’t many, and they didn’t give the demigods a second look.

After the crowds of Rome, the group had stopped worrying so much about getting noticed. As Frank had pointed out the other day, if they could fly their warship into the Roman Colosseum with ballistae blazing and not even cause a traffic slowdown, they could get away with anything. 

Nico led the way. At the top of the hill, they climbed over an old retaining wall and down into an excavated trench. Finally they arrived at a stone doorway leading straight into the side of the hill. The death storm seemed to originate right above their heads. Looking up at the swirling tentacles of darkness, Jason experienced what he imagined most people felt at the centre of a hurricane. 

Nico faced the group. “From here, it gets tough.” 

“Sweet,” Leo said. “‘Cause so far I’ve been totally pulling my punches.” 

Nico glared at him, although Jason was pretty sure there was fondness behind it. He knew the pair of them ended up chatting late at night - whenever he decided he wanted hugs from his favourite space heater in the middle of the night and Leo wasn’t in the engine room, he was almost certainly hanging out with Nico on deck. “We’ll see how long you keep your sense of humour. Remember, this is where pilgrims came to commune with dead ancestors. Underground, you may see things that are hard to look at, or hear voices trying to lead you astray in the tunnels. Frank, Do you have the barley cakes?” 

“What?” Frank looked confused, like he’d been miles away. 

“I’ve got the cakes,” Hazel said. She pulled out a bag of barley crackers that Jason was pretty sure they’d picked up in Venice, like, a week ago. 

“Eat up,” Nico advised. 

Jason chewed his cracker of death and tried not to gag. It tasted exactly like what he’d expect a week old barley cracker to taste like, some awful mix of sawdust and a faint hint of olive oil. 

“Yum,” Piper said. She looked like she’d just had to debate with Drew about the drawbacks and merits of hanging up posters of her dad in the Aphrodite cabin. 

“Okay,” Nico choked down the last of his barley. “That should protect us from the poison.” 

“Poison?” Leo asked. “Did I miss the poison? ‘Cause I love poison.” 

“Soon enough,” Nico promised darkly, though he gently bumped his shoulder against Leo’s in silent reassurance. “Just stick close together, and maybe we can avoid getting lost or going insane.” 

On that happy note, Nico led them underground. 

The tunnel spiralled gently downwards, the ceiling supported by white stone arches that reminded Jason eerily of a rib cage. Maybe a blue whale would be big enough. He’d have to ask Frank later. 

As they walked, Hazel ran her hand along the masonry. “This wasn’t part of a temple,” she whispered. “This was… the basement for a Manor House, built in later Greek times.” 

Jason thought it was pretty cool how Hazel could tell so much about an underground place just by being there. Sometimes he wondered if he’d be able to do the same thing with aircraft. Sometimes it was pretty disappointing how his powers lined up with the other children of the big three. He knew it was mostly down to this weird block that he only seemed to be able to overcome in moments of pure rage, but also it was his sheltered life. He’d never been in an aeroplane or a helicopter, he didn’t know if he’d be able to automatically fly one like Percy could commandeer a boat, and he’d never really encountered an eagle to see if he could talk to them, although he had a fairly convincing memory of chatting to a pigeon one time, although he’d had enough concussions that it could’ve been a hallucination or something. 

“A Manor House?” Frank’s question pulled Jason out of his reverie. “Please don’t tell me we’re in the wrong place.” 

“The House of Hades is below us,” Nico assured him. “But Hazel’s right, these upper levels are much newer. When the archaeologists first excavated this site, they thought they’d found the Necromanteion. Then they realised the ruins were too recent, so they decided it was the wrong spot. They were right the first time. They just didn’t dig deep enough.” 

They turned a corner and stopped. In front of them, the tunnel ended in a huge block of stone. 

“A cave-in?” Jason asked, uncertain of what they’d do if it was.

“A rest,” Nico said. “Hazel, would you do the honours?” 

Hazel stepped forward. She placed her hand on the rock, and the entire boulder crumbled to dust.

The tunnel shuddered. Cracks spread across the ceiling. For a terrifying moment, Jason imagined they’d all be crushed under tons of earth - a disappointing way to die, after all they’d been through. He’d really hate to die in one of his Uncle’s realms. He’d probably never escape the shame. Then the rumbling stopped, the dust settled. 

A set of stairs curved deeper into the earth, the barrelled ceiling held up by more repeating arches, closer together and carved from polished black stone. The descending arches made Jason feel woozy, like he was looking into an incredible endlessly reflecting mirror. Painted on the walls were crude picture of black cattle marching downwards. 

“I really don’t like cows,” Piper muttered. 

“Agreed,” said Frank.

“Those are the cattle of Hades,” Nico said. “It’s just a symbol of - “

“Look.” Frank pointed. 

On the first step of the stairwell, a golden chalice gleamed. Jason was fairly certain that it hadn’t been there just seconds earlier. The cup was full of dark green liquid. 

“Hooray,” Leo cheered halfheartedly. “I suppose that’s our poison.” 

Nico picked up the chalice. “We’re standing at the ancient entrance of the Necromanteion. Odysseus came here, and dozens of other heroes, seeking advice from the dead.” 

“Did the dead advice them to leave immediately?” Leo asked. 

“I would be fine with that,” Piper admitted.

Nico drank from the chalice, then offered it to Jason. There was a challenge waiting in the fire of his eyes. “You told me about trust? Well, here you go, son of Jupiter. How much do you trust me?” 

Jason knew he was referring to their conversation back at Auster’s palace, to when Nico had said Jason thought of him as a shifty traitor with no moral code. 

He had a choice, prove his denial of that accusation, solidify the friendship they’d been building, and maybe die of poisoning or whatever the fuck else was waiting to kill them downstairs. Or, he could let someone else go first, prove himself a liar, and ruin everything they’d been working towards in the early hours when they were the only two awake. But, he definitely wouldn’t die of poisoning. 

Jason took the cup and drank. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos much appreciated, constructive criticism and headCanons welcomes :))
> 
> Feel free to come have a chat on my [Tumblr ](https://MaybeIWantTheOceanToBurn.tumblr.com/) xxxx


	11. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason hates the underground, Nico hates bureaucracy, and Frank is a badass

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I kinda fucked with Frank’s big moment, I’m sorry :( but that’s mainly because I don’t think promoting him would make sense if Nico was the stand in praetor etc, I do love him

“Congratulations,” Nico nodded his satisfaction once everyone had drank. “Assuming the poison doesn’t kill us, we should be able to find our way through the Necromanteion’s first level.” 

“Just the  _ first  _ level?” Piper asked. 

Nico didn’t respond, he just turned to Hazel and gestured to the stairs. “After you, sorella.” 

——

Jason felt lost pretty much immediately. His complete lack of a sense of direction underground wasn’t new to him, but it was thrown into sharp relief now, where their main light source was the glow of their weapons, counteracted mostly by Nico’s enhanced powers drawing the shadows around them. From what Jason could make out, the stairs they were stood on split in three different directions. As soon as Hazel chose a path, the stairs split again. They wound their way through the interconnecting tunnels and rough-hewn burial chambers that all looked the same - the walls carved with dusty niches that might once have held bodies. The arches over the doors were painted with black cows, white poplar trees and owls. 

“I thought the owl was Minerva’s symbol,” Jason murmured, holding his blade up to better make out the painting. 

“The screech owl is one of dad’s sacred animals,” Nico said. “It’s cry is a bad omen.”

“This way.” Hazel pointed to a doorway that looked the same as all the others. “It’s the only one that won’t collapse on us.” 

“Good choice, then,” Leo said.

Jason’s skin tingled as they continued, and he hoped it was just a sign of the poison kicking in, not of their souls leaving the land of the living. In the eerie glow of their weapons, his friends looked like flickering ghosts. 

Cold air brushed against his face. He heard voices whispering in the side corridors, beckoning him to veer off course, to become closer and listen to them speak. 

Finally they reached an archway carved in the shape of human skulls - or maybe they  _ were _ human skulls embedded in the rock. In the purple light of Diocletian’s sceptre, the hollow eye sockets seemed to blink. 

When Nico and Hazel stopped, the others nearly slammed into them. 

“This is the entrance to the second level,” Hazel said. “I’d better take a look.” 

Frank shuffled out of the way to make space for her. “Uh, yeah..” 

Hazel traced her fingers across the carved skulls. “No traps on the doorway, but… something is strange here. My underground sense is - is fuzzy, like someone is working against me, hiding what’s ahead of us.” 

“The sorceress that Hecate warned you about?” Jason guessed, trying not to hug himself too visibly. He hated the underground. “The one Leo saw in his dream? What was her name?” 

Hazel chewed her lip. “It would be safer not to say her name. But stay alert. One thing I’m sure of: from this point on, the dead are stronger than the living.” 

“And don’t listen to their voices,” Nico tacked on. “You might hear your mother or your childhood friend or someone who was killed beside you in battle. Ignore them, the dead will do you no favours.” 

Even as he said it, the voices in the darkness seemed to whisper louder. Jason had no memories of his mother, so he wouldn’t recognise her voice even if he heard it, but their indistinguishable words left him with an odd sort of longing lodged in his chest. 

“Where are the monsters?” Frank asked, voice distant like he was just thinking aloud. “I thought Gaia had an army guarding the Doors.” 

“Don’t know,” Jason clenched his fists to stop his hands shaking. His skin felt tight, like he was about to let off a shower of sparks, but nothing happened. “At this point I’dalmost prefer a straight-up fight.” 

“Careful what you wish for, man.” Leo summoned a ball of fire to his hand. Although it helped to chase the cold from Jason’s limbs, the flickering light didn’t help the twitching shadows. He had no idea if their movement was some frightening result of Nico’s heightened power and unease, or of the dead’s increased corporeality, or both. “Personally I’m hoping nobody’s home. We walk in, find Percy and Annabeth, destroy the Doors of Death and walk out. Maybe stop at the gift shop.” 

“Yeah,” Frank’s voice was laden with something only a touch friendlier than disdain. “That’ll happen.” 

The tunnel shook. Rubble rained down from the ceiling.

“That was close,” Hazel muttered. “These passageways won’t take much more.” 

“The Doors of Death just opened again,” Nico informed them.

“It’s happening like every fifteen minutes,” Piper noted.

“Every twelve,” Nico corrected, although he didn’t explain how he knew. He didn’t have to. They were all thinking of his shattered eyes and hollow voice after they’d rescued him from Otis and Ephialtes. “We’d better hurry. Percy and Annabeth are close. They’re in danger, I can sense it.” 

As they travelled deeper, the corridors widened. The ceilings rose to six metres high, decorated with elaborate paintings of owls in the branches of white poplars. The extra space should’ve made it less claustrophobic, but all Jason could think about was how these larger tunnels could accommodate monsters of all sizes, maybe even giants. He glanced at Frank, not relieved in the slightest to see him looking as worried as Jason felt. 

“We’re practically sitting ducks, here,” Frank said, looking around uncomfortably.

“This tunnel would be perfect for an ambush,” Jason agreed. “There’s blind corners everywhere.” 

“I can make us invisible,” Nico offered. “But then we’d have no light, and I don’t know how much of my power reserves will be needed for using the Sceptre if we need it.”

“Power reserves?” Leo questioned. “That sounds fancy.”

Nico shrugged. “Your power is a chemical reaction with the oxygen in the air. I’m guessing you generate the heat for the spark, but from there you’re just controlling it and that doesn’t take much energy. That’s what controlling the shadows is like. But the dead..it’s breathing life into the corpse, kind of. So I have this power reserve of what I can afford to give before I start handing out my life force.” 

Jason had never thought about that. Nico and Hazel were so powerful, but everything they did must sap at their energy in a way that Percy and Jason’s powers didn’t. The things they controlled were already animate in some way, they didn’t have to be given energy. Moving earth and reanimating but not reviving bones sounded like holding back the tide, or stopping the wind - Percy and Jason could manage it for a moment, but maintaining it would likely be impossible. 

Leo held his fire close to the walls. Jason could half make out Ancient Greek graffiti sketched into the stone. He only knew a phrase or two in Ancient Greek, but he guessed they were prayers or supplications to the dead, written by pilgrims thousands of years ago. The tunnel floor was littered with ceramic shards and silver coins. 

“Offerings?” Piper guessed.

“Yes,” Nico said. “If you wanted your ancestors to appear, you had to make an offering.”

“Let’s not make an offering,” Jason suggested. 

Nobody argued. 

“The tunnel from here is unstable,” Hazel warned. “The floor might.. well, just follow me. Step  _ exactly  _ where I step.” 

She made her way forward. Frank followed right behind her. Jason went after him, catching Nico’s wrist. He knew Nico had some faint underground sense, and that both Pluto children could see in the dark. It made sense for one to lead and one to go in the middle, so that if Frank and Jason’s combined weight weakened a path, Nico could make sure Leo and Piper didn’t die. 

Plus, Nico and Jason had gotten so close in the last few days that it was comforting to have the other boy behind him. If something came for Jason from behind, Nico would protect him. 

Frank stopped cold out of nowhere. In the dim light, Jason had to squint to make out his features, but Frank looked haunted, eyes distant and mouth slack, like he was listening to something the rest of them couldn’t hear. 

“Frank?” Jason whispered, unable to keep the worry out of his voice. “Hazel, hold up a second. Frank, what’s wrong?” 

“Nothing,” Frank murmured. “I just-“ 

He zoned out again. Nico tugged on Jason’s arm. “Jay,” he hissed.

“What?” Jason whispered back. 

“I’ve been thinking. And, uh, the dead are speaking to me. When I raise this legion, they’re going to be Roman soldiers, and they’re going to need the structure of a Roman legion. Two  _ praetors,  _ no problem, right?” 

“Right..” Jason couldn’t see where Nico was going. 

“But you’re not really a  _ praetor  _ anymore,” Nico said apologetically. “Don’t look at me like that, we’ve had this conversation. I don’t think a  _ praetor tempus,  _ or even one  _ praetor _ will be enough. I think.. I think you need to step down, promote me permanently, and name Frank your successor.” 

“My successor? By promoting you aren’t I making you my successor?” Vacantly, Jason registered Hazel and Leo start talking to Frank. 

Nico waved a hand vaguely. “In the old times, there was this rank called a  _ Primus Pilus _ . Commanding Centurion. They were the highest rank before  _ praetor,  _ excluding equestrian officers. If we ignore a bunch of rules about how ranks work, that would guarantee him next promotion, but more importantly, it would give the dead legionnaires the structure they’re used to following, and result in maximum obedience.” 

They paused to watch Hazel forge ahead by herself, then Jason turned back to Nico. “Why not just promote Frank to  _ praetor _ ? I swear you don’t even like bureaucracy. Inventing a rank seems like a lot of fuss.”

Nico scowled. “I don’t. Multiple reasons. One, a  _ praetor-centurion  _ pair will have the best effect, and the dynamic between me and Frank is that of  _ he’s best friends with my baby sister who’s two years younger than him, so he does everything he can to stay in my good books _ . He could try tell me what to do, but he’d be awkward and lose his flow. Two, if you promote your friend to  _ praetor  _ a month after he got promoted to  _ centurion _ , which was a month after he joined the legion, Octavian will come for you, and probably get backing. Three, there’s less paperwork to inventing a rank than there is to you resigning, me stepping back, and then you skipping due process for  _ praetor  _ promotion. Octavian could have you on favouritism amongst quest-fellows. We have no cohort to raise him up on shields, and we’re not the Senate either.”

Jason had to concede the point. “You realise you’ll have to serve for two years right? I’ll only get away with resigning if I claim my ten years service and leave the legion.”

“Yeah.” Nico nodded. “I know. But my dad said I’d have to serve a couple years before he’d agree to start demanding jobs so I can shave a few years off my ten, so why not? I’ll get my GED or something while I’m there.” 

Hazel came back, drawing their attention. Her face was drawn and pensive. “Scary room ahead,” she warned. “Don’t panic.” 

——

The room they entered next was like a circular cathedral, with a ceiling so high it was lost in the gloom. Dozens of other tunnels led off in different directions, each echoing with ghostly voices. The thing that made Jason uncomfortable was the floor. It was a gruesome mosaic of bones and gems - human femurs, hip bones and ribs twisted and fused together into a smooth surface, dotted with diamond and rubies. The bones formed patterns, like skeleton contortionists tumbling together, curling to protect the precious stones - a dance of death and riches. If Jason hadn’t met Pluto himself, he would’ve thought it a fitting tribute to Nico and Hazel. 

Without thinking, he summoned the winds to act as a barrier between him and the floor. 

“Touch nothing,” Hazel said.

“Wasn’t planning on it,” Leo murmured.

Jason scanned the exits, peering into the gloom like it would reveal its secrets if he only stared hard enough. 

Nico’s face was twisted with uncertainty. “This should be the room where the priests invoked the most powerful spirits. One of these passages leads deeper into the temple, to the third level and the alter of Hades himself. But which-?” 

“That one.” Frank pointed. 

As far as Jason could tell, his choice was entirely random. 

Hazel frowned. “Why that one?”

“You don’t see the ghost?” Frank asked.

“Ghost?” Nico’s grip on Jason’s wrist tightened. Jason bumped their shoulders together gently. Frank seeing a ghost that Nico and Hazel couldn’t was worrying, sure, but Jason’s priority was to make sure Nico was in a fit state to raise and then lead an entire legion of skeletons. 

“We need to get to that exit,” Frank said, which Jason didn’t understand until he noticed the others shaking slightly. _The_ _floor_. “Now!” 

Hazel had to almost tackle Frank to restrain him. “Wait, Frank! The floor is  _ not  _ stable, and underneath.. well I’m not sure  _ what’s  _ underneath. I need to scout a safe path.” 

“Hurry, then,” he urged.

Frank drew his bow and herded Hazel along as fast as he dared. Jason moved aside, lifting Nico automatically to let Leo scramble after her to provide light. 

The cavern suddenly reverberated with monstrous roars - dozens, maybe hundreds of enemies coming from every direction. Jason recognised the throaty bellow of the Earth Ron, the screech of gryphons, the guttural war cries of Cyclopes - all sounds he remembered from the Battle of Mount Tam, and their fight at the Wolf House, amplified underground. 

“Hazel, don’t stop!” Nico yelled, sounding awfully dignified considering Jason was holding him like an unruly child. He wriggled out of Jason’s grasp, then pulled the sceptre of Diocletian from his belt.

Jason drew his sword, and saw Piper do the same in the corner of his eye. Monsters spilled into the cavern.

A vanguard of Earthborn threw a volley of stones that shattered the bone-and-jewel floor like ice. A fissure spread across the genre of the room, coming straight towards Leo and Hazel. 

Jason watched as Frank tackled the two of them, sending them skidding across the cavern, landing against the tunnel Frank had pointed to as rocks and spears flew overhead. 

“Go!” Frank yelled. “Go, go!” 

Jason lost sight of Leo and Hazel as he dove into the fray, fighting instinctively with two of his best friends, back to back. 

The bulk of the monster army was trapped on the other half of the new fifteen-metre-wide chasm, which was good, but the three of them were still surrounded by a ring of Cyclopes and hellhounds. More monsters kept pouring in from the side corridors, while gryphons wheeled overhead undeterred by the crumbling floor. 

Jason knew, deep down, the three of them count make it to the tunnel. Not without an undead legion, which, according to Nico, they needed Frank for. Jason only hoped Frank hadn’t followed Hazel and Leo into the tunnel. 

“Nico!” Frank yelled. “The sceptre!” 

Nico raised the sceptre and the cavern shimmered purple. He looked the spitting image of his father, regal and cold. Like this, Jason couldn’t imagine that anyone could disobey him. Ghosts climbed from the fissure and seeped from the walls - an entire Roman legion in full battle gear. They began taking on physical form, like walking corpses, but they seemed confused. Jason tried yelling in Latin, hoping it would work despite Nico’s earlier words, but they ignored his orders to form ranks and attacks. The undead just shuffled amongst the monsters, only causing momentary confusion. 

A volley of rocks caught Jason’s eye, and he watched helplessly as they slammed into the rock above the tunnel entrance. Frank managed to dive out of the way, but when the dust settled the entrance was gone. 

——

The dead reminded Jason of bored demigods; milling about aimlessly, chest bumping for no apparent reason, pushing one another back into the chasm, shooting arrows into the air and occasionally, out of sheer luck, throwing a javelin, a sword or an ally in the direction of the enemy. 

Meanwhile, the army of monsters got thicker and angrier, Earthborn threw volleys of stones that ploughed into the zombie legionnaires, crushing them like paper. Female demons with mismatched legs and fiery hair gnashed their fangs together and shouted orders at other monsters. A dozen Cyclopes advanced on the crumbling bridges while telkhines lobbed vials of Greek fire across the chasm. There were even some wild centaurs in the midst of it all, shooting flailing arrows and trampling their smaller allies under hoof. In fact, most of the enemy seemed to be armed with some kind of fiery weapon. 

Nico was swinging his black sword with one hand, holding the sceptre of Diocletian aloft with the other. He kept shouting orders at the legionnaires, but they only listened to him momentarily, forming ranks for a second only to dissolve back into the crowds. 

Jason summoned gusts of wind to blast aside javelins and arrows. He deflected a vial of Greek fire right into the throat of a gryphon. Piper put her new sword to good use, while spraying food from the cornucopia in her other hand. The air above the cheek turned into a fireworks show of flaming projectiles, exploding rocks and fresh produce. 

Jason could feel his face beading with sweat. He knew what he had to do. 

“Frank!” He yelled.

Frank was looking at Jason like he’d just realised what Nico had worked out. Jason wasn’t Roman enough for this anymore, and Nico didn’t have a proper rank - Frank and Dakota were  _ Centurions _ of the Fifth cohort now, so Nico wasn’t exactly a  _ Centurion _ , but he wasn’t fully  _ praetor  _ either. 

Frank made it to them just as a wave of Cyclopes hit. Jason was aware of Frank on his right as he deflected the incoming missiles. “What do you need, man?” Frank asked.

“We’re reinstating a really old rank for you!” Jason yelled back over the roar of monsters. “I’m field promoting you and Nico, you’re his second! He needs to focus on keeping the dead here, so you take over for him, okay?” 

To his absolute credit, Frank didn’t even blink, he just nodded. “Are field promotions even viable?” His voice barely carried, and Jason almost took a javelin to the head trying to parse out his words. 

“Who cares? Our legion is  _ Fulminata _ , and the whole fucking camp is named after my dad!” Jason tossed the Celtic hunting dagger he kept strapped to his thigh to Nico mid somersault, not pausing to think about how automatic the move had been. “It’s about time I used that, don’t you think?” 

Frank stared at him for a moment, then shrugged. “I’ll let you argue that one out with Octavian and Reyna, then.” 

Jason shouted in his best drill-sergeant voice: “Nico di Angelo! Frank Zhang! I, Jason Grace,  _ praetor  _ of the Twelfth Legion Fulminata, give you my final order: I resign from my list and give you, Nico di Angelo emergency field promotion to  _ praetor _ , and you, Frank Zhang emergency field promotion to  _ Primus Pilus,  _ with the full powers of those ranks. Take command of this legion!” 

Frank and Nico made eye contact. “Legion,  _ Amgen formate!” _ They shouted in unison, Frank’s voice barely recognisable, like Nico and Hazel’s had been ever since they’d reached Epirus. 

Instantly, every dead legionnaire in the cavern drew their sword and raised their shield. They scrambled towards the pair, pushing and hacking monsters out of their way until they stood shoulder to shoulder with their comrades, arranging themselves in a square formation. Stones, javelins and fire rained down, but now they had a disciplined defensive line sheltering them behind a wall of bronze and leather. 

“Frank, I’m gonna need you to take the lead on this one.” Nico used the Sceptre as a staff and swept a Cyclops' legs out from under it. ”I order you to take command, or whatever. Uh,” he addressed the legion, “ _ et illi soli servies!” _

The legionnaires turned slightly, so they were looking directly at Frank. Frank nodded. “Archers!” He yelled. “ _ Eiaculare flammas!” _

To Jason’s relief, several dozen ghostly skirmishes knocked arrows in unison. Their arrowheads caught fire spontaneously and a flaming wave of death arced over the legion’s line, straight into the enemy. Cyclopes fell. Centaurs stumbled. A telkhine shrieked and ran in circles with a burning arrow impaled in his forehead. 

Jason heard a laugh from behind him. He caught Frank’s eye as they turned back to see where it had come from. Something twinged in Jason’s chest at the sight: Nico smiling, bloodthirsty and absolutely delighted. 

“That’s more like it,” Nico said. “Let’s turn this tide!” 

“ _ Cuneum formate!”  _ Frank yelled. “Advance with  _ pila!” _

The zombie line thickened in the centre, forming a wedge designed to break through the enemy host. They lowered their spears in a bristling toe and pushed forward. 

Earthborn wailed and threw boulders. Cyclopes smashes their fists and clubs against the locked shields, but the zombie legionnaires were no longer paper targets. They had inhuman strength, hardly wavering under the fiercest attacks. Soon the floor was covered in monster dust. The line of javelins chewed through the enemy like a set of giant teeth, felling ogres and snake women and hellhounds. Frank’s archers shot ground out of the air and caused chaos in the main body of the monster army across the chasm. 

Frank’s forces began to take control of their side of the cavern. One of the stone bridges collapsed, but more monsters kept pouring over the other one. 

“Jason,” Frank called, “can you fly a few legionnaires across the pit? The enemy's left flank is weak - see? Take it!”

Jason could only hope his smile was a smidgeon as bloodthirsty as Nico’s. “With pleasure.” 

The first three dead Romans that Jason lifted across the chasm were difficult, they clearly had no desire to get their feet off the ground, but the next three were easier, and soon he and a squad of soldiers were cutting through very surprised-looking telkhines, spreading fear through the enemy’s ranks. 

“Nico,” Frank called, “uh, sir? We need more numbers.”

Jason could see what Nico had meant, now. Frank had no problem telling Jason, a former  _ praetor,  _ what to do, but even asking Nico for something caused panic to flit across his face. 

“On it.” Nico lifted the sceptre of Diocletian, which glowed even darker purple. More ghostly Romans seeped from the walls to join the fight.

Across the chasm,  _ empousai  _ shouted commands in a language Jason didn’t know, but the gist was obvious. They were trying to shore up their allies and keep them charging over the bridge.

Distantly, Jason heard Frank tell Piper to cause some chaos. Then Frank joined the fight on the front lines, and the cavern was bathed in red light. 

Jason threw himself into the fight, and once the others joined him on the far side of the chasm, they unleashed hell. 

Frank was a host unto himself, invincible, practically breezing through crowds of monsters with an ease like Jason had never seen. Piper dealt with the  _ empousai  _ with delight, yelling cat calls to confuse them, then slicing them into dust. 

Nico...Nico was quickly stood back to back with Jason, and they fought like they’d been battle partners for decades. When Jason needed a long range weapon, missing his javelin, Nico would toss him the sceptre instinctively, then would snatch it back to call more legionnaires. When Nico needed something more up close, Jason would automatically hand him a knife, not allowing himself to pause long enough to interrupt their rhythm.

In no time, the four of them were alone, panting and absolutely exhilarated. Nico handed Jason his knives back, and dismissed the legionnaires. 

Jason blinked at the cavern walls as his blood roared in his ears, crackling with electricity he wasn’t powerful enough - or obedient enough - to summon. 

“Frank,” he said, voice distant, “You’re on fire.” 

He was right, had pointed it out before he’d really acknowledged that his friend’s trousers had started to shoulder. 

Nico cleared his throat. “Uh..you also have an arrow sticking through your arm.” 

“I know.” Frank snapped off the point of the arrow and pulled the shaft out by the tail. “I’ll be fine.” 

Piper handed out ambrosia, then bandaged Frank’s wound. “Frank, you were amazing. Completely terrifying, but amazing.” 

The glow slowly faded from him, and if Jason had to take a guess, he’d say Frank’s adrenaline was fading too. 

“Hazel and Leo,” he said. “We need to find them.” 

At the other end of the cavern, the tunnel Hazel and Leo had entered was buried under tons of rubble. 

“We can’t go that way,” Nico said. “Maybe..”

Suddenly he staggered, and Jason barely had the wherewithal to catch him. “You okay, man?” He whispered.

Nico nodded slightly, but didn’t move to support himself for a good minute.

“Nico!” Piper said. “What is it?” 

“The Doors,” Nico said. “Somethings happening. Percy and Annabeth...we need to go  _ now. _ ”

“But how?” Jason said. “That tunnel is  _ gone. _ ” 

“It won’t be fun,” Frank said, expression grim, “but there’s another way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos much appreciated, constructive criticism and headCanons welcomes :))
> 
> Feel free to come have a chat on my [Tumblr ](https://MaybeIWantTheOceanToBurn.tumblr.com/) xxxx


	12. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy and Annabeth reunite with the team, and Reyna arrives!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi y’all! Sorry about last weekend, I ended up in Scotland without my copy of house of hades, and then I sprained my ankle taking a photo :/// but anywho, here are two chapters for the price of one to make up for it :)) also I’m back at school now for my final year so..if there are more spelling errors it’s because I’m stressed lol

Fighting Clytius was kinda cool. They were slightly limited, due to the whole  _ structural integrity of the cavern meaning lightning displays were dangerous _ thing, and also because they were all exhausted and trying to keep Percy and Annabeth safe, but flying around and kicking the giant in the face made Jason feel like a tall, buff version of that blonde fairy in the movie series Leo had made him watch - Tinker something. Honestly, Jason was just impressed that Hazel and Leo had managed to get Percy and Annabeth out of the death lift thing, and then keep them alive whilst battling Clytius. 

Ichor oozed from a dozen wounds, and although the damage healed quickly, the giant seemed to be tiring. The darkness around him dispelled completely, leaving nothing to protect him except his battered armour. One last time, Jason flew at him, kicking him in the chest, and the giant’s breastplate shattered. His sword dropped to the floor. He fell to his knees, and the demigods encircled him. 

Only then did Hecate step forward, her torches raised. Mist curled around the giant, hissing and bubbling as it touched his skin. 

“And so it ends,” Hecate said. 

_ It does not end.  _ Clytius’s voice echoed from somewhere above, muffled and slurred.  _ My brethren have risen. Gaia waits only for the blood of Olympus. It took all of you together to defeat me. What will you do when the Earth Mother opens her eyes?  _

Hecate turned her torches upside down. She thrust them like daggers at Clytius’s head. The giant's hair went up faster than dry tinder, spreading down his head and across his body, until a bonfire raged across his skin. Sweat beaded at Jason’s forehead. Clytius fell without a sound, face-first into the rubble of Hades’ alter. His body crumbled to ashes. 

For a moment, all Jason could hear was this heart pounding and his breath rattling in his chest. If anyone spoke, he didn’t hear it. 

Hecate turned to Hazel. “You should go now, Hazel Levesque. Lead your friends out of this place.”

Hazel gritted her teeth, anger evident across her face. Jason winced in sympathy. “Just like that? No “thank you”? No “good work”?” 

The goddess tilted her head. The polecat that had been lurking on the ship these last days disappeared into the folds of her mistress’s skirts. 

“You look in the wrong place for gratitude,” Hecate said. “As for “good work”, that remains to be seen. Speed your way to Athens. Clytius was not wrong. The giants have risen -  _ all _ of them, stronger than ever. Gaia is on the very edge of waking. The Feast of Hope will be poorly named unless you arrive to stop her.” 

The chamber rumbled. Another stela crashed to the floor and shattered. 

“The House of Hades is unstable,” Hecate said. “Leave now. We shall meet again.” 

The goddess dissolved. The Mist evaporated. 

“She’s friendly,” Percy grumbled. 

The others turned towards him and Annabeth, as if just realising they were standing there. Before any of them could move, Nico was across the room like a shot, skidding to a stop before he rammed into Percy.

“I swear to fucking, fucking,” Nico’s voice broke as he seemed to grasp for a fitting deity. His hands flickered in and out of the shadows restlessly as he patted the pair down for injuries. “I swear to fucking Chaos, Percy. Why couldn’t you’ve just, I don’t know, fought a god or something?” 

Percy shrugged. “I did that when I was twelve, man. It’s kind of an old hat by now, don’t you think? Besides, look at you now, little man! Coming all the way to Epirus for little ol’ me. I’m touched. Thalia can suck it, clearly I’m your favourite.”  The two of them stared at each other for a second before dissolving into hysterical laughter, clinging to each other with desperation. 

Piper threw her arms around Annabeth, the pair of them shaking and sobbing. 

Jason touched down next to Leo, waiting until Nico released Percy to talk to Hazel. 

“Dude!” Jason went to tug Percy into a hug before remembering how Nico had flinched away from contact for days. “Uh, is it alright if I hug you, man?” 

“‘Course.” Percy grinned at him, and tired and brittle as it was, Jason was just glad to see his friend. “Gotta lotta love for my bro.” 

The last time Jason had hugged Percy, there’d been a noticeable size difference. Percy had been lean and wiry where Jason was thick and corded muscle, but now he practically dwarfed Percy. He felt breakable in Jason’s grip. Before he could comment, or offer Percy and Annabeth some ambrosia, ceiling shuddered. Cracks appeared in the remaining tiles. Columns of dust spilled down. 

“We have to get out of here,” Jason said. “Uh, Frank..?” 

Frank shook his head. “I think one favour from the dead is all I can manage today.” 

“Wait, what?” 

Piper raised her eyebrows. “Your absolutely  _ unbelievable  _ bestie called in a favour as a child of Mars. He controlled the spirits of the dead warriors that Nico raised, made them lead us here through...um, well, I’m not sure actually, the passages of the dead? All I know is that it was  _ very, very  _ dark.” 

To their left, a section of the wall split. Two ruby eyes from a carved stone skeleton popped out and rolled across the floor. 

“We’ll have to shadow-travel,” Hazel said.

Nico nodded, and made grabby hands in Jason’s direction. Jason obediently tossed him the gold cloth bag from Will Solace. Nico made a bemused face when he pulled out a Gatorade and four nutrient bars along with the ambrosia and nectar, but shared them with his sister Anyways. “I’m gonna need your help,” he explained to Hazel as he ate. “I can’t move eight people by myself, especially not with a son of Poseidon and Jupiter on board.” 

Hazel nodded as an entire section of tiles peeled loose from the ceiling. 

“Everyone, grab hands!” Nico yelled. 

They made a hasty circle, weapons shoved quickly into sheaths and belt loops to free up hands. Riptide was just tossed aside carelessly, and Jason was pretty sure Leo just threw the hammer he’d been using. 

The cavern collapsed, and the group dissolved into shadow.

——

They appeared on a hillside overlooking the River Acheron. The sun was just rising, making the water glitter and the clouds glow orange. The cool morning air smelled of honeysuckle 

Jason was holding hands with Leo on his left, Piper on his right. They were all alive and mostly whole. The sunlight in the trees was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. He made eye contact with Hazel, and suspected they were thinking the same thing - he wanted to live in that moment, free of monsters and gods and evil spirits. 

Then the others began to stir.

Nico realised that he was holding Percy’s hand and quickly dropped it, edging towards Jason with a nervous expression, frantically nodding towards Percy to remind Jason of his promise to prevent any strangling. 

Leo staggered backwards. “You know… I think I’ll sit down.” 

He collapsed. The others joined him, Nico hiding neatly behind Jason’s bulk. The  _ Argo II  _ still floated over the river a few hundred yards away. 

They began to exchange stories. 

Frank explained what had happened with the ghostly legion and the army of monsters - how Nico had used the sceptre of Diocletian and how bravely Jason and Piper had fought. 

“Frank is being modest,” Jason cut in. “He controlled the entire legion. You should’ve seen him. Nico came up with this idea to reinstate the  _ Primus Pilus  _ rank, so I resigned my office, promoted Nico to permanent  _ Praetor,  _ and gave Frank  _ Primus Pilus  _ so Nico could focus on raising the dead. He was absolutely fantastic.”

“ _ Primus Pilus?”  _ Hazel echoed, from where she was tucked under Frank’s arm. It was a shocking how small she looked, a reminder of how young she really was. Jason has forgotten, what with how powerful and smart she was, but really, Hazel was their youngest. 

“It was a rank from the Roman army,” Annabeth explained, glancing around to confirm with Nico. When she couldn’t see him, she continued. “There were a few bureaucratic positions above  _ praetor,  _ and then below  _ praetor  _ immediately was an equestrian officer rank, but then you had the  _ primus Pilus,  _ who was like, an extra important  _ centurion,  _ right?” 

Jason nodded. “Basically, yeah.” 

Frank shrugged uncomfortably. “It seems weird.” 

Hazel kissed his cheek. “It seems perfect.” 

Leo clapped Frank on the shoulder. “Way to go, Zhang. Now you can order Octavian to fall on his sword. Wait,” he glanced at Jason, then Annabeth. “Can he do that? Or does li’l Ghosty need to approve the order?” 

Percy made a choked sound. “Li’l Ghosty?”

Leo shrugged. “Oh yeah. Me and Death Lite are like, besties. We even tried testing the Spanish-Italian language barrier, seeing as his Spanish is mainly swear words and how to ask for directions to a hospital.”

“Death Lite?” Annabeth repeated, looking vaguely sick.

“Wait, where is the little fucker?” Percy perked you, looking around. “I need to strangle him for lying to me in New Rome. Did you hear that, death breath?” He raised his voice a bit. “You’ve just shadow-travelled eight people, you’re not strong enough to worm your way out of this one!” 

Jason heaved a sigh. “Sorry bro, but I’ve been asked to prevent any strangling. Something about a six two Sally Jackson-raised almost adult versus a five four malnourished child being unfair, or something.” 

“Nuh uh, man.” Percy shook his head. “I’m like a week phlethlagon-starved, we’re both in the same boat here. I even promise no powers, just my hands and your throat. Brotherly bonding.” 

Nico cleared his throat. “If you strangle me I’ll tell Thalia that she’s my favourite and I’ll revoke your Cerberus rights.” He blurted, peeking out from behind Jason. 

Percy cocked his head. “Can you revoke my Cerberus rights if you’re dead?” 

“Uh, yeah?” Nico raised an eyebrow. “You realise death for me is just gonna be life but incorporeal, right? Plus, my dad will be mad if you kill me. He says, and I quote,” Nico’s voice changed to a adopt a rich, slower tone, the cadence all off. The result was an intimidatingly accurate mimick of Pluto: “Nicoló, don’t take this the wrong way, but if you die too young, I will be sending you on missions until you’ve collected facts to uselessly sprout that are about something other than that ridiculous card game.””

Leo whistled. “Damn, man. That’s harsh.” 

“Anyway,” Frank said, before the argument could evolve. Jason wasn’t sure if he was trying to prevent a strangling, or just postpone it until he was awake enough to enjoy one. “Tartarus has to be the  _ real  _ story. What happened down there? How did you..” 

Percy laced his fingers through Annabeth’s. 

All signs of emotion disappeared from Nico’s face, and he retreated into himself. Jason thought that as much as Nico had wished for his brother and Annabeth to be safe, their being here was probably another reminder that Nico had suffered through Tartarus  _ alone _ . 

“We’ll tell you the story,” Percy promised. “But not yet, okay? I’m not ready to remember that place.”

“No,” Annabeth agreed. “Right now…” she gazed towards the river and faltered. “Uh, I think our ride is coming.” 

Jason turned. The  _ Argo II _ veered to port, it’s aerial oars in motion, it’s sails catching the wind. Festus’ head glinted in the sunlight. Even from a distance, Jason could hear him creaking and clanking in jubilation. 

“That’s my boy!” Leo yelled. Jason tugged him into a bear hug, overcome with a wave of fondness for his best friend. It was probably just the adrenaline crash kicking in, but he didn’t take enough opportunities to show his appreciation for his friends anyway, so he gave into the impulse. 

As the ship got closer, Jason began to make out Coach Hedge standing at the prow. 

“About time!” The coach yelled down. He was doing his best to scowl, but his eyes gleamed as if maybe, just maybe, he was happy to see them. “What took you so long, cupcakes? You kept your visitor waiting!” 

“Visitor?” Hazel muttered. Jason’s heart pounded. It couldn’t be-

At the rail next to Coach Hedge, a dark haired girl appeared wearing a purple cloak, her face covered in soot and bloody scratches. Even if she’d been doused in blood and caked in mud, Jason would’ve recognised her.

Reyna had arrived. 

——

It was a fraction of a second before Nico dragged Jason through the shadows to the deck. “Reyna!” They both yelled, running forward in unison to hug her tightly. 

“Neeks, Jay.” She hugged them back just as tightly. “Gods above, pollitos, we’re in trouble.”

“What? Why?” Jason wiped the soot from her face and pressed a square of ambrosia into her hand. “What’s happening?” 

“I lost contact with the Legion when I entered the Ancient Lands, but I think Octavian wants war with the Greeks. We travelled towards New York to make contact, in case we need each other for battle. But without me, or you two there to calm him and his fanatics… they could whip up a frenzy.” 

Jason felt the blood leave his face. “Fuck,” he murmured. “He..well..Neeks told the Legiom about the Greeks a year ago, what grounds for war do they have?” 

Reyna winced. “Nico’s friends are actual a minor problem, too.”

“What?” Nico frowned. “Who? Why?” 

“They know how unhappy you were whilst you were there, and then they appeared, and you went to  _ Tartarus,  _ pepita. Your friends don’t understand why the Greeks would mistrust such a precious weapon, or such a wonderful friend.” 

“I did dunk their semi-leader in the  _ River Styx _ after allowing Hades to hold him hostage.” Nico pulled a face. “And like, I sided with Minos for a bit. I probably wouldn’t trust me either.” 

“Yeah but you’re an idiot,” Jason informed him. “You were what, thirteen? Fourteen at a push?” 

Nico shrugged mulishly. “Anyways, is there anything we can do? About Octavian?” 

Jason hummed. “If you can get word to two dwarves in Bologna, I might be able to cause a little mischief.” 

The pair blinked at him. 

“Just trust me. Ask Leo for more information.” 

Nico made a face then turned back to Reyna. “The Athena Parthenos needs to be taken back to Camp Half Blood to restore the rift. Maybe-“

Whatever he was about to say was cut off by the others boarding the boat, Percy ribbing Nico for not taking all of them with him. 

“Percy, if Grover travelled thousands of miles on a fucking Pegasus by himself, through the Ancient Lands, and you could teleport, you would take Annabeth and go. Rey is our Grover.” Nico replied, not moving away from Reyna even as Percy offered a first bump. 

Percy immediately nodded his understanding, hanging back and waving to the others to signal that they should too. Jason felt a rush of gratitude for how understanding their friends were. He rested his forehead on the top of Reyna’s head. “I’m so glad you’re here.” 

“Me too,” she loosened her hold on then slightly, but made no move to escape them. “I can’t believe you two haven’t pissed off a god or two.” 

“We made friends with a couple, actually.” Nico grinned. “Well, Jay did.” 

Jason blushed and shoved Nico gently. “It was nothing,” he protested. “I just, passed a couple tests, I guess.”

“Who’s? What did you have to do?” Reyna ducked out from under him and grasped his chin in her hand, moving his head from side to side to check for damage. 

“Oh, well I got. Um.” He glanced at Nico, who nodded encouragingly. “Cupid outed me to Nico. Who, I think already knew? That I’m, uh, not into sex. But I didn’t. So. Yeah.” 

Rage flashed through Reyna’s eyes. Jason gripped her hand, trying his best to convey he needed her here, not avenging him. She took a deep breath. “Who else?” 

“Auster. I had to pick a side. Greek or Roman.” He avoided her eyes, toying with her fingers like a child.

“And you picked Greek, huh?” Reyna didn’t even sound surprised, just sad and disappointed. 

“I didn’t pick anyone. I resigned my post in the House of Hades, and I think I’m gonna go to a mortal high school.” He forced the words out, staring at Festus behind her. “I. I’m. I’m thinking of boarding school in Cali. Maybe like, studying in New Rome during the management switch and stuff, so I have a bit of a paper trail, and then going to that place Leila -I think? - Went to, um..the Athenian School?” 

Reyna nodded slowly. “The Athenian School is close. Only twenty five miles or so, I think. I remember dropping Leila off to see her sister. That’s a good school, Jay. So, who’ve you chosen for your replacement? Frank, maybe?” She smiled teasingly over the top of Nico’s caricature of shock and outrage. 

“You know, I actually chose this little twerp here, but do you think it’s too late to change my mind?” He propped his elbow on Nico’s shoulder. “I think he’s too short to properly intimidate the troops.”

Nico scowled and used Jason’s arm to flip him over his shoulder. Instinctively, Jason summoned the winds to cushion his fall, but when he pushed himself to sitting, he noticed a swirling cloud of shadows, clearly waiting in case he hadn’t caught himself. He pulled his best puppy eyes. “Hey, no fair.” 

As expected, Nico crumbled immediately. “I guess Frank _would_ be a pretty good _praetor,”_ he admitted. “ I still think I could intimidate the troops better though, he looks like a teddy bear. That’s why he’s best in his nice, new role.” 

Jason nodded. “Valid point.” 

Nico held his hand up for silence before Reyna could ask, tilting his head, before his expression sobered. “Rey...Scipio…”

Jason scrambled to his feet immediately, and took Reyna’s hand. “What’s wrong with Skippy?” 

Reyna’s shoulders shook minutely. “I had to..I had to get him through the journey..I needed to get here, but Skippy..” 

“I’ll take care of it.” Nico used a small shadow box to give him the height to kiss her forehead, then excused himself, squeezing Jason’s bicep as he left. 

“C’mere,” Jason murmured, holding his arms out. He couldn’t imagine what Reyna was going through - Scipio had been one of her closest friends for years, and losing him must be awful. “Neeks’ll make sure he doesn’t hurt.” 

Reyna tucked her face in the crook of his neck, and Jason glared at his friends to assure they wouldn’t mention the small sobs that escaped. If it were down to him, they wouldn’t be here to witness Reyna breaking down, but he knew realistically they didn’t have the time for privacy. 

Unsurprisingly, by the time Nico returned, face a picture of solemnity, Reyna had pulled herself together, even if her eyes shined suspiciously. Nico rested his head on her shoulder for a second when he stopped beside her. “It’s done.” 

“Thank you,” Reyna said, voice cracking, before she visibly shook herself. “Right.” She turned to face the Parthenos, lowered into the hillside by Leo’s new mechanical hoist system. “Incredible,” she admitted. 

Instead of shadow-travelling, they disembarked in the normal human manner, except for Jason, who threw himself off the side of the boat. Once they’d reached the stair, the three of them circled it slowly. Jason was pretty sure Reyna and Nico were as unwilling to separate as he was. Reyna’s expression was wary. “It looks newly made.”

“Yeah,” Leo said. “We brushed off the cobwebs, used a little Windex. It wasn’t hard.” 

The  _ Argo II  _ hovered just above them. With Festus keeping watch for threats on the radar, Jason was pretty sure the rest of the crew were preparing lunch to eat on the hillside so they could discuss their next move. 

Pretty soon, the ten of them were sat in a loose circle, Percy and Annabeth practically on top of each other, which Jason would probably have raised an eyebrow at if Reyna and Nico hadn’t draped themselves over him. Although he didn’t have any explicit memories of this kind of closeness, or comfort, he wasn’t as surprised as the others to see Reyna in her jeans and Camp Jupiter t shirt, and the pair easily made space for each other, Nico automatically tucking himself under Jason’s right arm, whilst Reyna curled against his left, resting her head on his chest. For three guarded, mistrustful warriors, there was no tension to their touch. Reyna relaxed her shoulders, and Nico even stowed his sword in shadows, an unusual display of comfort. For the first time since waking up on the bus in Nevada, Jason didn’t feel like electricity was numbing his extremities. 

“So what’s this new role Neeks and Jay say they have for you, Frank Zhang?” Jason was pretty sure Reyna didn’t  _ intend  _ to sound interrogatory, but Frank quickly straightened his back and wiped crumbs off his chin. 

“Uh. _Primus_ _Pilus,_ um, ma’am? _Praetor?”_

Reyna sighed, and sat up enough to pin Nico with a sharp gaze. “When Octavian asks why a centuries old rank that we no longer use has been implemented on a quest he doesn’t approve of, you’re going to tell him how you came up with it, and why Jason, your superior at the time, went along with it. I want no place in the mess he’s going to kick up about this.” 

Nico dropped his head so his chin was hooked over Jason’s shoulder. “Okay, I guess. Can I stab him? Is that a thing I can do now that I’m  _ praetor _ ? Order him to die, or something?” 

Reyna pressed her hands to her face, and Jason was pretty sure he heard her whisper “Bellona give me strength”, before she relaxed back into Jason’s side. “Fuck it, sure. I don’t care. Hi Frank Zhang, welcome to your new role. Since your job doesn’t technically exist, I’m going to give you a lot of paperwork that I don’t want to do, but other than that, it’s basically up to you what you want to do with it.” 

Frank blinked. “Uh, so..you approve?” 

Reyna smiled dryly. “A son of Mars, the hero who helped bring back the eagle of the legion… I can work with a demigod like that. Nico and Jason can explain it to the Twelfth Fulminata.” 

“Is that going to work?” Frank asked uncertainly.

Jason shrugged. “I’m retiring, so they’re gonna try and keep me on board. I’m gonna say I’ll train new recruits whilst I’m still in the city sorting the whole me being the dead son of a movie star thing, but only if they accept your promotion, no questions asked.”

Frank looked appropriately touched. “Thanks, man.” 

Jason waved him off, nudging Nico until he passed him a sandwich. “It’s no problem. I’m planning on forcing Neeks and Rey to come travelling with me, so I need to know I like their successors, right?” 

Frank laughed and nodded. 

Leo pulled two tiny screwdrivers from his tool belt and used them to spear chocolate strawberries, then passed one to coach Hedge. 

“So, the twenty-million-peso question,” He said. “We got this slightly used forty-foot-tall statue of Athena. What do we do with it?” 

Reyna squinted at the Athena Parthenos. “As fine as it looks on this hill, I didn’t come all this way to admire it. According to Annabeth, it must be returned to Camp Half-Blood by a Roman leader. Do I understand correctly?” 

Annabeth nodded. “I had a dream down in...y’know, Tartarus. I was on Half-Blood Hill, and Athena’s voice said  _ I must stand here. The Romans must bring me.” _

“It makes sense,” Nico said.

Jason pulled him closer. The son of Pluto carefully picked out a pomegranate and cut into it using one of the knives he’d taken of Jason mid-fight. Percy was watching him with a mixture of fondness and apprehension. 

“The statue is a powerful symbol,” Nico said. “A Roman returning it to the Greeks...that could heal the historic rift, maybe even heal the gods of their split personalities.” 

Coach Hedge swallowed his strawberry along with half the screwdriver. “Now, hold on. I like peace as much as the next satyr-“

“You  _ hate  _ peace,” Leo said.

“The point is, Valdez, we’re only - what, a few days from Athens? We’ve got an army of giants waiting for us there. We went to all the trouble of saving this statue-“

“ _ I  _ went to most of the trouble,” Annabeth reminded him.

“-because that prophecy called it the  _ giants’ bane,”  _ the coach continued. “So why aren’t we taking it to Athens with us? It’s obviously our secret weapon.” He eyed the Athena Parthenos. “It looks like a ballistic missile to me. Maybe if Valdez strapped some engines to it-“

Piper cleared her throat. “Uh, great idea, Coach, but a lot of us have had dreams and visions of Gaia rising at Camp Half-Blood…”

She unsheathed Katripis and set it on her plate. The blade was currently blank, but even looking at it brought Jason back to the awful things it had shown before.

“Since we got back to the ship,” Piper said, “I’ve been seeing some bad stuff in the knife. The Roman legion is almost within striking distance of Camp Half-Blood. They’re gathering reinforcements: spirits, eagles, wolves.”

“Octavian,” Reyna growled.

The temperature dropped, and Nico’s jeans became tinted white with frost. “Fuck that guy,” he muttered. 

“I  _ told _ him to wait,” Reyna said. 

“He’s intent on war,” Annabeth said. “Unless we stop him…”

Jason spoke before she could. “He’s going to have it. We’ll be so busy fighting each other, and the gods will be so busy fighting themselves, that Gaia will rise practically uncontested.” 

  
  



	13. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Big plans are made, and how does Tartarus change your powers?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, folks!

Silence hung in the air after Jason finished talking. 

A part of Jason wanted to blame someone. Whose job was it to make sure a fanatic wasn’t leading an entire legion of Roman soldiers? Whose job was it to make the plans so they wouldn’t be facing this kind of dilemma? Whose job was it to magically teleport statues and prevent wars and save worlds? But honestly, Jason knew that if he kept going down that road, he’d end up feeding himself a lot more anti-Olympian rhetoric than would really be useful right now. He could ruminate on how fucked up it was that he, a sixteen year old orphan with magic powers, along with his band of thirteen to seventeen year old other misfits and orphans with magic powers, could save the world from their shared family matriarch, whilst gods who’d lived and trained for millennia sat back with their bad headaches and their convenient ancient laws that prevented them doing anything useful, another time.

“So Reyna takes the statue,” Percy said, finally disrupting the silence. “And we continue on to Athens.”

Leo shrugged. “Cool with me. But, uh, a few pesky logistical problems. We got what - two weeks until that Roman feast day when Gaia is supposed to rise?”

“The Feast of Spes,” Jason said, summoning a couple winds so he could prop himself up a bit. “That’s on the first of August. Today is, uhm-“

“July eighteenth,” Frank offered. “So, yeah, from tomorrow? Exactly fourteen days.” 

Hazel winced. “It took us  _ eighteen _ days to get from Rome to here - a trip that should’ve only taken two or three days, max.” 

“So, given our usual luck,” Leo said, “ _ maybe  _ we have enough time to get on the  _ Argo II  _ to Athens, find the giants and stop them from waking Gaia.  _ Maybe.  _ But how is Reyna supposed to get this massive statue back to Camp Half-Blood before the Greeks and Romans put each other through the blender? She doesn’t even have her Pegasus anymore. Uh, sorry-“

“Fine,” Reyna snapped. She might be treating them like allies, but Jason knew she had a not-so-soft spot for Leo, probably on account of him blowing up half the Roman Forum. He squeezed her shoulders gently in support. 

She took a deep breath, then blew it out, causing the loose wisps of hair escaping from her usually pristine braid to frizz up. “Unfortunately, Leo is correct. I don’t see how I can transport something so large. I was assuming - well, I was hoping you all would have an answer.” 

“The Labyrinth?” Hazel offered slowly. “I-I mean, if Pasephaë really has reopened it, and I think she  _ has…” _ She glanced between Percy and Nico apprehensively. “Well, you guys said the Labyrinth could take you anywhere, right? So maybe-“ 

“No.” Percy, Annabeth and Nico spoke in unison, Nico tensed up against Jason’s side like he was about to curl up into a heavily armoured woodlouse. 

“Not to shoot you down, Hazel,” Percy said. “It’s just..” He clearly struggled to find the right words. Jason had a faint memory of Nico relaying his journeys there, so he imagined Percy had no words for the maze of tunnels and passageways. Nico had struggled to describe it too. 

“For one thing,” Percy said, “the passages in the Labyrinth are way too small for the Athena Parthenos. There’s no chance you could take it down there-“ 

“And even if the maze  _ is  _ reopening,” Annabeth continued, “we don’t know what it might be like now. It was dangerous enough before, under Daedalus’s control, and he wasn’t evil. We had to use a mortal with clear sight to get through, demigod blood wasn’t enough. If Pasiphaë has remade the Labyrinth the way she wanted…” she shook her head. “Hazel,  _ maybe  _ your underground senses could guide you through, but no one else would have a chance. And we need you here.” 

“It was a good idea, Hazel,” Nico reassured, leaning over to take her hand. “But no way either of my sisters are going in that gods forsaken hell maze. There are very few people I’d accept going in there, and one of them is stirring up an inter-demigod war. There’s only one other place I’ve ever felt as close to pure insanity.”

“You’re right,” Hazel said glumly. “Nevermind.” 

Reyna cast her eyes around the group. “Other ideas?” 

“I could go,” Frank offered, not sounding very happy about it. “I want my  _ Primus Pilus  _ thing to be about Graeco-Roman relations anyways. Good a place as any to kick that off, right? Maybe we could rig some sort of sled, or-“

“No, Frank Zhang.” Reyna gave him a weary smile. “I hope we will work side by side in the future, but for now your place is with the crew of this ship. You are one of the seven of prophecy.” 

Jason knew Nico would speak before he opened his mouth. “I’m not,” he said. 

Everybody stopped eating. Percy was staring across the circle at Nico. 

Hazel set down her fork. “Nico-“

“I’ll go with Reyna,” he insisted. “It makes sense, right? I’m  _ praetor  _ now, Reyna is my best friend, and I can transport the statue with shadow-travel.” 

“Uh..” Percy raised his hand. “Don’t take this the wrong way, li’l bro, you know I think you’re the bomb, and I know you just got all right of us to the surface, and that was awesome.  _ But.. _ a year ago you said transporting just  _ yourself _ was dangerous and unpredictable. A couple of times you ended up in China. Transporting a forty-foot statue and two people halfway across the world-“

“Did you have a moment in Tartarus where you suddenly found yourself pushing past boundaries?” Nico interrupted, “Ones you didn’t really need to survive physically, but you needed a crueler side of you to survive that mentally, and it opened your eyes to your powers?” Nico’s tone was challenging. He sat up properly, no longer learning against Jason for support. Jason had no idea what he was talking about, but by the way Annabeth and Percy both paled, they weren’t comfortable with what Nico had said.

“I don’t know what your new thing is. I’m sure it’s terrifying and deadly. I bet Annabeth could identify the most effective torture of an individual within seconds of meeting them now, or something equally awful. But Percy, I can survive for a week on five pomegranate seeds. I’m pretty sure I can manipulate souls now. That’s why shadowtravelling so many  _ people  _ is hard, your souls are right there, in my grasp.” A dark light entered his eyes. “A part of me, of my powers, wants to see what I can do. The shadow road is the one place where none of you would have anywhere near enough power or control to stop me. But the Athena Parthenos, magically powerful as it is, doesn’t have soul. I suspect it’s presence might prevent me from sending Reyna’s too. I would only be able to shadow travel.” .

“Neeks,” Jason intervened, unsure of how to deal with the manic fire in his friend’s face. “We’re not questioning your power, or your control. We know you’re powerful. We just want to make sure you don’t kill yourself trying.” 

Nico’s face softened slightly as he looked at Jason and Reyna. “I can do it, look.” He turned to Leo. “McFlames, give me the distance from here to Long Island Sound.” 

Annabeth looked slightly insulted not to be asked, but Leo grinned. “Four thousand nine hundred miles from the Pindus Mountains to Long Island sound, Bones,” he replied after a moment’s thinking, ignoring their shocked glances. “Festus and I were looking at local attractions. The mountains are about a hundred miles from here, I’d say. But that’s direct, You’ll need landmass to land on and sleep, so you’re probably looking closer to seven thousand miles.”

“Right, so that’s a trip tonight to the mountains, yeah?” Nico turned back to Jason and Reyna. “And then just over six thousand five hundred miles. How much of that jump is the Atlantic?” 

Leo shrugged. “Two thousand miles? Approximately.” 

“So a few jumps to Dingle, in Ireland, or Cape Roca in Portugal. We can decide that sort of stuff on the way,” Nico flapped his hands around, clearly getting excited. “Maybe in stops of five to seven hundred miles. Then the two thousand mile jump, I’ll need a day of sleep before and after, and it’ll probably land us on..” 

“St. Johns at the most Western point of Newfoundland and Labrador,” Annabeth informed him. “That’s your closest, probably.”

Nico nodded gratefully. “And St John’s is only like four jumps from the Long Island Sound. I’ve done a job there once for my dad. So that’s what, maybe eight jumps? A jump a day, bar the three days for the Atlantic crossing is eleven days. We’ve even got an error margin. As soon as we’re out of the ancient lands, I’ll iris message..shit, who’s the pretty blond who works in the infirmary?” 

“Will Solace?” Jason answered that far too quickly. He carefully avoided eye contact with the others as his ears burned. 

Nico didn’t seem to notice, he just nodded. “Yeah, Will Solace. If I pray to my dad, he might transport some ambrosia and stuff for me. Then Reyna can defend me and the statue, since I’ll probably be sleeping twelve to eighteen hours between jumps.”

If Jason had been anyone else, he wouldn’t have been able to see past Reyna’s poker face. As she passed her gaze across the group, they all seemed to shrivel into themselves slightly. Jason could see the worry and relief warring in her, mainly because it was mirrored in himself. If Nico got hurt on this trip, they’d never forgive themselves, but they were also glad he would be away from the main battles, and glad that he would be with Reyna. 

“Any objections?” Reyna asked. 

No one spoke.

“Very well,” she said, with the finality of a judge. Jason was hit with a memory of Nico appearing in the  _ Principia _ , judge’s gown and gavel in hand, skidding to a stop. “You don’t want to know where I got this from,” he’d said, then pleaded with them until Reyna had worn it. Somehow, she managed to manifest even more gravitas now than then, when Jason had genuinely panicked for a second that her decided sentence - his death - would come true, she’d delivered it so gravely. 

“I see no better option,” she continued. “But there will be  _ many  _ monster attacks. I would feel better taking a third person. That’s the optimal number for a quest.” 

“Coach Hedge,” Frank blurted.

“Uh, what, Frank?” Percy asked. “Like, I trust your judgement, bro, but..why?” 

“The coach is the best choice,” Frank explained. “The  _ only  _ choice. He’s a good fighter, a certified protector, and not a member of the prophecy. He’ll get the job done.” 

“A faun,” Reyna said flatly. 

“Satyr!” Barked the coach. “And, yeah, I’ll go. Besides, when you get to Camp, you’ll need somebody with connections and diplomatic skills to keep the Greeks from attacking you. Just let me go make a call - er, I mean, get my baseball bat.” 

He got up and shot Frank a look that Jason had no idea how to interpret. Despite the low survival odds of the quest Frank had basically shoved him into, the old goat looked somehow  _ grateful.  _ He jogged odd towards the ship’s ladder, tapping his hooves together like an excited kid. 

“I’m gonna go pass out for a few hours,” Nico stood up. “Jay, did Solace give us any sleeping pills?”

Jason rummaged around in the gold cloth bag. “Um, I got valerian root tablets? And a vial with a note that says “so help me Apollo, Grace, if the person you give this to is at all capable of natural sleep, I will kill you with fire”. Will that do?” 

“Oh, nice.” Nico held his hand out for it, then held it up to the light. “This looks like the stuff that those..Perce what are those turtles called? The ones that fall in stuff like this, then become ninjas?” 

Percy looked like a proud father. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Nicky. They were the teenage mutant ninja turtles.”

“If I don’t wake up as a turtle, I’ll be very disappointed,” Nico glared at the bottle as though he was trying to scare it into submission, then jogged back to the ship. 

After a moment of silence, Percy glared at them all. “No one is allowed to tell him that the teenage mutant ninja turtles were already turtles before they fell in the toxic waste stuff. Don’t ruin the innocence of my poor, stupid baby brother.”

Jason held his hands up in defence. “I have no clue what a teenage mutant ninja turtle is, bro.”

“Me neither,” Reyna admitted. 

Leo and Percy looked steadily more and more disappointed as most of the others agreed. “Seriously?” Leo frowned. “Only me, Percy and Frank have seen TMNT? Absolutely shocked and appalled.” 

Hazel cleared her throat, looking worried. “Can we just- I’m.. Nico is acting strangely. He sounded..he’s not told me about the soul thing. He doesn’t usually keep stuff from me.” 

“He sees himself as your big brother, Hazel,” Jason assured her gently. “I think he just wants to protect you from that kind of thing. I think he wants to protect all of us from it, or at least, I’m guessing that’s why he didn’t tell me either.” 

“Why would he have told you?” Percy asked, head tilted curiously. “Speaking of, why were you all cuddly? I’ve literally never seen him like that. Unless you’re-“ he cut himself off. “Oh  _ shit,”  _ he murmured to himself, face drawn and pale, “oh that poor little  _ idiot.”  _

The remaining lot of them stared at him in confusion, but he waved them off.

“Um. Anyways,” he started awkwardly, after a moment of staring at a cheese sandwich like it was the cause of Nico’s change in behaviour. “One thing that bothers me, is that if the Feast of Spes is in two weeks, and Gaia needs the blood of two demigods to wake - what did Clytius call it? The blood of Olympus? - then aren’t we doing exactly what Gaia wants, heading to Athens? If we don’t go, and she can’t sacrifice any of us, doesn’t that mean she can’t fully wake up?” 

The way Annabeth looked at Percy, shattered thoughtful gaze, reminded Jason of Nico, all intelligence and tragedy. 

“Percy, prophecies cut both ways,” she said. “If we  _ don’t  _ go, we may lose our best and only chance to stop her. Athens is where our battle lies. We can’t avoid it. Besides, trying to thwart prophecies never works. Gaia could capture us somewhere else, or even spill the blood of other demigods.” 

“Yeah, I guess,” Percy concedes. “I don’t like it, but..you’re right. Um. I need to go. Talk to Nico. I’ve missed him, y’know?” He stood up, but his movements were shaky and weak, like a baby deer. 

The mood of the group became gloomy as they watched Percy stumble back to the ship. Annabeth didn’t follow. Jason had no idea why Percy had cut himself off, what this  _ unless  _ was for being in Nico’s bubble. 

“Well!” Piper sheathed her blade and patted her cornucopia. “Good picnic. Who wants dessert?” 

——

The crew gathered back on the hillside at nightfall to see off the trio. When Jason arrived, Percy already had Nico in an tight bear hug, which Nico was enduring with surprising grace. 

“I swear to fuck, man, if I have to tell my mom that you got kidnapped twice, she’s gonna like, tie you to the bed in the spare room.”

Nico raised an eyebrow. “Then you need to tell your mom that I’m a highly traumatised minor with unhealthy amounts of claustrophobia, and social services might not take well to that kind of thing.” 

Percy snorted. “Dude I’m trying to say be safe. We love you, yeah? We want to see you again, y’know?” 

“And I’m trying to say you suck at metaphors or whatever. Just..don’t tell Thals i went down.. there. I don’t need to live through that lecture.” Nico started squirming a little, and Percy stepped back.

“Not a chance, bro. I want to see that.” 

“Jay!” Nico noticed him over Percy’s shoulder and waved, smiling. “Are you here to save me from the horrors of evil older brothers?” 

“Hmm, I don’t know,” Jason grinned back. “Is that in the hero job description? Maybe somewhere between rescuing damsels chained to rocks and retrieving my love from Hades’ grasp?” 

“I hate the both of you,” Nico furrowed his eyebrows. Jason would’ve been worried if he wasn’t still smiling. “You’re both the worst. Never speak to each other.” 

Percy laughed. “No promises, kiddo. I’m gonna go talk to Reyna, but nothing stupid from you, okay? If I have to pester Will Solace until he demands you stay in the infirmary, I will.”

“I’m a Roman  _ praetor,  _ Percy.” Nico hugged him one last time, short but tight. “I don’t have to listen to Will Solace.”

Jason snorted. “Gods what I’d give to see the di Angelo-Solace battle of wills. I genuinely have no idea who’d win.” 

“Will, obviously.” Percy shrugged. “He’s aroace, he’s not distracted by pretty boys. Neeks here, on the other hand..” he jogged off before Nico could deliver grievous bodily harm, or Jason could ask what the fuck aroace was. 

“I hate one man,” Nico muttered. “And it’s that man.” 

“Understandable,” Jason reassured him. “You ready for your trip?” 

“Yeah. I can do this.” 

“I know you can. Just c’mere.” 

Nico rolled his eyes, but stepped toward into the hug obligingly. “You stay safe too. I don’t know why everyone’s acting like we’re the suicide trio when you guys are off to fight Mother Earth.” 

Jason held him as tightly as he could without accidentally smothering the smaller boy. “We’re trying not to think about that bit yet.” 

“Don’t die, okay?” Nico’s voice was suddenly solemn, almost shaky. “Please don’t die. Try and make sure the others don’t die, too.”

“I’ll do my best, Neeks, but you know I can’t promise that, just like you can’t promise me that you won’t.” Jason leaned back slightly to make fully eye contact.

Nico sagged against him. “I know. I know. Just, be careful.”

“I will. You too.” He absently pressed a kiss to Nico’s mess of curls. If the son of Pluto noticed, he didn’t react. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too.” 

——

The  _ Argo II  _ sailed after nightfall. 

They veered southwest until they reached the coast, then splashed down in the Ionian Sea. Percy seemed to come alive a bit, back in his home territory, but Jason’s feelings regarding sailing the seas were more aligned with Hazel’s, who’d set up camp by the toilets. Frank had said something about how the change from being her home territory for nearly a day, then ending up back on the sea pretty quickly afterwards, was unsettling. 

It would’ve been a shorter trip to Athens over land, but after the crew’s experience with mountain spirits in Italy, they’d decided not to fly over Gaia’s territory any more than they had to. They planned to sail around the Greek mainland, following the routes that Greek heroes had taken in the ancient times. 

It seemed to be fine with Percy; anytime he wasn’t needed, he was stood at the starboard rail with his eyes closed. Jason? He preferred his travel with much less rocking, and he missed Nico and Reyna something fierce. He’d tried his best to engage with Piper and Leo, but pretty soon he’d been making excuses. He ended up curled in Nico’s little hideout up in the crow’s nest. Nico had apparently been busy before his shadow powers had started malfunctioning the closer they got to Greece and Rome - the nest had pillows and a couple blankets stored away that Jason was almost certain Leo hadn’t packed. 

That was how he spent the night - curled up in a nest that was never meant for someone of his height, nevermind his build, wrapped in blankets and nestled in pillows that did fairly little to remove the discomfort, staring at the stars.

He pointed out constellations to himself, memory after memory flitting through his mind. Piper, on Zeus’ fist after their second “date”, pointing out the Zodiacs that were visible. Reyna, when he’d had his first public panic attack when he’d been asked to speak in front of the Senate for the first time as an officer, counting him through the common navigation constellations. And weirdly enough, Nico, although he couldn’t place the time or circumstances, pointing out the huntress. 

He couldn’t see her now, they were thousands of miles away from North America, and Jason thought he recalled Nico telling him that the huntress followed the Hunters, a group of maiden warriors sworn to Diana. Instead, he could point out Hercules and Lyra, and maybe even Aquila, but that one could’ve been a trick of the light from the deck. 

Somewhere, his sister was hunting monsters with her sister, maybe navigating by the same stars lulling him to sleep. Somewhere else, his brothers and sisters in arms prepared for battle on both sides of a pointless civil war, using the same sky to guide their battle plans. Somewhere else, Nico might be stargazing, counting constellations in the same way Jason was to tire out his brain, preparing for a journey that would require more physical and mental strength than perhaps even Tartarus. 

“Please be safe,” he whispered. “Please, dad. Keep him safe.” 

  
  



	14. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Old! Jason vs his missing bf vs old people joints vs hundreds of ghouls vs not joining e stupid deaths line up from horrible histories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If this seems a bit jerky/not very smooth, it’s because my medschool application and the first draft of a 5000+ word research project are due at the end of this week and there is not enough coffee in the world , so I’m very sorry if it’s not up to scratch

Jason hated being old.

His joints hurt. His legs shook. As he tried to climb the hill, his lungs rattled like a box of rocks. 

He had that old-man smell - mothballs and chicken soup. How was that possible? He’d gone from sixteen to seventy-five in a matter of seconds, but the old-man smell had happened instantly, like  _ Boom. Congratulations! You stink! _

He couldn’t see his face, thank Fortuna, but his fingers were gnarled and bony. Bulging blue veins webbed the backs of his hands. They didn’t glow the electric purple that they’d started to take on whilst Nico had been around, which was fucking with Jason for three reasons: 

  1. his lightning was seemingly tied to his emotions, which were apparently heightened around Nico, which whatever, he loved the kid, but he had no idea why Nico specifically
  2. he was part of a quest to save the world from his primordial grandmother, and one of his more deadly powers was currently _not fucking working_
  3. the weakening of his powers with Nico’s absence combined with Hazel’s magic dampening him even further resulted a block that made his chest feel tight 



Was this how normal people felt? Sure, his powers had been weaker than he was sure they really were, but now the thrum of electricity was entirely gone, and everything was weird, like his body didn’t know how to interact with the world without it - his ears were straining for the crackle his hair sometimes made in the wind, and he was unconsciously clenching and unclenching his fingers, trying to generate a spark. At least the winds still swirled at his feet when he called them.

“Almost there.” Piper smiled at him. “You’re doing great.” 

Easy for her to say. Piper and Annabeth were disguised as lovely Greek serving maidens. Even in their white sleeveless gowns and laced sandals, they had no trouble navigating the rocky path. 

Leo has suggested that Jason be one of the pretty servants, wiggling his eyebrows and leering at Jason’s biceps whilst he’d described a thrilling encounter with some confident, sexy version of Jason that didn’t actually exist in this universe, lowering his voice comically as he laid the scene of an oiled, shirtless Jason offering wine to a helpless damsel, who Piper had been only happy to play the part of. 

At the time, Jason couldn’t think of anything worse. He wasn’t sure he could pull off sexy if he tried, and although the Greek air made being shirtless seem enticing, even the thin padding he’d shrugged on before Hazel had done her magic would provide more protection. Now, knees stiff and with less power in his whole body than he usually had stored in one hand, he wished he’d taken Leo’s advice. 

He glanced up the hill. The summit was still a good hundred yards above. “Worst idea ever,” he groaned, leaning against a cedar tree. He wiped his forehead. “Hazel’s powers are too strong. If I have to fight, I’ll be useless.” 

“It won’t come to that,” Annabeth promised. She looked awesome in her serving-maiden dress. Jason had no idea how to compliment her in a way that wouldn’t come across as interested, or just plain creepy, so he didn’t try, but her cold expression and traditional dress reminded him of stories of powerful serving girls who whispered in the ears of Senators, and in doing so steered the course of history. 

“We infiltrate the palace,” she said. “We get the information we need, and we get out.” 

Piper set down her amphora, the tall ceramic wine jar in which her sword was hidden. “We can rest for a second. Catch your breath, Jason.” 

From her waist hung her cornucopia, and tucked somewhere in the folds of her dress was her knife. Annabeth, too, had a concealed sword, although she already looked deadly enough without it visible. Even with the two of them there, even with the blades he was too weak to wield concealed around his person, he felt vulnerable. Maybe it was the lack of electricity humming in his ears, or maybe it was the fact that two of the most important people to him in the world were hundreds or maybe even thousands of miles away, on what could easily be described as a suicide mission. 

He tried to steady his breathing. 

Below them, Afales Bay glittered, the water so blue it might’ve been dyed with food colouring. A few hundred yards offshore, the  _ Argo II  _ rested at anchor. It’s white sails looked no bigger than postage stamps, it’s ninety lards like toothpicks. Jason imagined his friends on deck following their progress, taking turns with Leo’s spyglass, trying not to laugh as they watched Grandpa Jason hobble up the hill. 

“Stupid Ithaca,” he muttered.

He supposed the island was pretty enough. A spine of forested hills twisted down it’s centre. Chalky white slopes plunged into the sea. Inlets formed rocky beaches and white stucco churches nestled against the shoreline. 

The hills were dotted with poppies, crocuses and wild cherry trees. The breeze smelled of blooming myrtle. All very nice, except the temperature was about a hundred and five degrees. The air was as humid and steamy as a Roman bathhouse. 

It would’ve been easy for Jason to control the winds and fly to the top of the hill, but  _ nooo.  _ For the sake of stealth, he had to struggle along as an old dude with bad knees and chicken-soup stink. 

He thought about his last climb, two weeks ago, when Hazel and he had faced the bandit Sciron on the cliffs of Croatia. At least then Jason had been at full strength. What they were about to face would be much worse than a bandit. 

“You sure this is the right hill?” He asked. “Seem kind of - I don’t know - quiet?” 

Piper studied the ridgeline. She had a scratch across her cheek from last night, when she’d defeated an entire flock of harpies by herself when she was on duty. She’d tried to downplay the achievement, but she was obviously proud of herself and how killer the cut made her cheekbones look. 

“The ruins are up there,” she promised. “I saw them in Katropis’s blade. And you heard what Hazel said. “The biggest-””

““The biggest gathering of evil spirits I’ve ever sensed,”” Jason recalled. “And we’re without our ghost boy.” 

After battling through the underground temple of Hades, the last thing Jason wanted to do was deal with more evil spirits, but the fate of the quest was at stake. The crew of the  _ Argo II _ had a big decision to make. If they chose wrong, they would fail, and the entire world would be destroyed. 

Piper’s blade, Hazel’s senses and Annabeth’s instincts all agreed - the answer lay here in Ithaca, at the ancient palace of Odysseus, where a horde of evil spirits had gathered to await Gaia’s orders. The plan was to sneak amongst them, learn what was going on, and decide the best course of actions. Then get out, preferably alive. 

Annabeth snorted. “Ghost boy? I don’t think even Percy could get away with calling Nico ghost boy.” 

Jason tried not to let his chest puff in pride. It wasn’t that he was competing with Percy for Nico’s affections, but it was nice to be reminded that they were just as close, with as much history.

Annabeth readjusted her golden belt. “I hope our disguises hold up. The suitors were nasty customers when they were alive. If they find out we’re demigods-”

“Hazel’s magic will work,” Piper said. “The kid’s a powerhouse. I’m pretty sure that if we gave her the all-clear, she’d be able to cleave the mountain top right off.” 

Jason tried for a laugh, he knew Piper was trying to ease the tension building amongst the three of them.

_ The suitors:  _ a hundred of the greediest, evilest cut-throats who’d ever lived. When Odysseus, the Greek king of Ithaca, went missing after the Trojan War, this mob of B-list princes had invaded his palace and refused to leave, each one hoping to marry Queen Penelope and take over the kingdom. Odysseus managed to return in secret and slaughter them all - the basics of a happy homecoming - but if Piper’s visions were right, the suitors were back now, haunting the place where they’d died. 

Jason couldn’t believe he was about to visit the actual palace of Odysseus - one of the most famous Greek heroes of all time. Then again, this whole quest had just been one mind-blowing event after another. One of Jason’s best friends had been the first demigod to ever survive Tartarus, and two more of his friends had quickly followed. Given that, Jason decided maybe he shouldn’t complain about being an old man.

“Well…” He steadied himself with his walking stick. “If I  _ look  _ as old as I feel, my disguise must be perfect. Let’s get going.” 

As they climbed, sweat trickled down his neck. His calves ached. Despite the heat, he began to shiver. And, try as he might, he couldn’t stop thinking about his recent dreams. 

Ever since the House of Hades, they’d become more vivid. Sometimes Jason stood in the underground temple of Epirus, the giant Clytius looming over him, speaking in a chorus of disembodied voices:  _ It took all of you together to defeat me. What will you do when the Earth Mother opens her eyes?  _

Other times Jason found himself at the crest of Half-Blood Hill. Gaia the Earth Mother rose from the ground - a swirling figure of soil, leaves and stones.

_ Poor child.  _ Her voice resonated across the landscape, shaking the bedrock under Jason’s feet.  _ Torn between two places that have never felt like home, even as your step-mother and closest friends hide your past from you. What happened that even your Nico and Reyna will not tell you? _

His worst dream started in the courtyard of the Sonoma Wolf House. Before him stood the goddess Juno, glowing with the radiance of molten silver.  _ Your life belongs to me,  _ her voice thundered.  _ An appeasement from Jupiter.  _

Jason knew he shouldn’t look, but he couldn’t close his eyes as Juno went supernova, revealing her true godly form. Pain seared Jason’s mind. His body burned away in layers like an onion.

Then the scene changed. Jason was still at the Wolf House, but now he was a little boy - no more than two years old. A woman knelt before him. Everything about her was so familiar, but completely alien. If asked, he couldn’t place her face, but when she spoke, her voice was brittle and thin, and every word rang through his head like he’d heard it over and over.  _ I will be back for you dearest,  _ she said.  _ I will see you soon.  _

Every time Jason woke up from that nightmare, his face was beaded with sweat, and his eyes stung with tears. 

Nico had warned them: the House of Hades would stir their worst memories, make them see things and hear things from the last. Their ghosts would become restless. Jason had hoped that  _ particular  _ ghost would stay away, but every night the dream got worse. Now he was climbing to the ruins of a palace where an army of ghosts had gathered. 

_ That doesn’t mean  _ she’ll  _ be there,  _ Jason told himself. 

His hands wouldn’t stop trembling. Every step seemed harder than the last. He was viscerally aware that the only two people he’d ever broken down in front of were hundreds or thousands of miles away, out of reach. 

“Almost there,” Annabeth said. “Let’s-”

_ BOOM!  _ The hillside rumbled. Somewhere over the ridge, a crowd roared in approval, like spectators in a coliseum. The sound made Jason’s skin crawl, and his breathing speed up. He gripped his belt, trying to push away the sounds of the cheering ghostly audience from the Roman Colosseum that was pressing in around him.  _ I’m not there,  _ he told himself firmly.  _ I’m on a mountain in Greece, and there are no giants and no audience, and no shitty, obstinate gods who enjoy watching teenage boys fight for their- _

“What was that explosion?” Piper asked.

“I don’t know,” Annabeth said. She didn’t look like she enjoyed admitting it. “But it sounds like they’re having fun. Let’s go make some dead friends.” 

Piper winked at Jason. “Outside of our dear Mr Skellington, of course.” 

——

Naturally, the situation was a million times worse than Jason expected.

It wouldn’t have been any fun otherwise.

Peering through the olive trees at the top of the rise, he saw what looked like an out-of-control zombie frat party, like if those shitty coming of age movies Piper and Will Solace had made him watch had been about the undead.

The ruins themselves weren’t that impressive: a few stone walls, a weed-choked central courtyard, a dead-end stairwell chiselled into the rock. Some plywood sheets covered a little and a metal scaffold supported a cracked archway. 

But superimposed over the ruins was another of reality - a spectral mirage of the palace as it must have appeared in its heyday. Whitewashed stucco walls lined with balconies rose three storeys high. Columned porticoes faded the central atrium which had a huge fountain and bronze braziers. At a dozen banquet tables, ghouls laughed and ate and pushed one another around.

Jason had expected about a hundred spirits, but at least twice that many were milling about, chasing spectral serving girls, smashing plates and cups, and basically making a nuisance of themselves.

Most looked like Lares from Camp Jupiter - transparent purple wraiths in tunics and sandals. A few revellers had decayed bodies with grey flesh, matted clumps of hair and nasty wounds. Others seemed to be regular living mortals - some in togas, some in modern business suits, others in army fatigues. Jason even spotted one guy in a purple Camp Jupiter T-shirt and Roman legionnaire armour.

In the centre of the atrium, a grey-skinned ghoul in a tattered Greek held court, a marble bust lofted over his head like a sports trophy. The other ghosts cheered and slapped him on the back. As the ghoul got closer, Jason caught sight of the arrow lodged in his Adam’s apple. He was also pretty sure that the bust was a depiction of Zeus. It bore a scary resemblance to the giant statue Jason had spent months sharing a cabin with. 

“Our next offering!” The ghoul shouted, his voice buzzing from the arrow in his throat. “Let us feed the Earth Mother!” 

The partners yelled and pounded their cups. The ghoul made his way to the central fountain. The crowd parted and Jason realised that the fountain wasn’t filled with water. From the three-foot-tall pedestal, a geyser of sand spewed upward, arcing into an umbrella-shaped curtain of white particles before spilling into the circular basin. 

The ghoul heaved the marble bust into the fountain. As soon as Zeus’s head passed through the shower of sand, the marble disintegrated like it was going through a wood chipper. The sand glittered gold, the colour of ichor - godly blood. Then the entire mountain tumbled with a muffled  _ BOOM,  _ as if belching after a meal. 

The dead partygoers roared with approval. Images of the Colosseum flashed behind Jason’s eyes. 

“Any more statues?” The ghoul shouted to the crowd. “No? Then I guess we’ll have to wait for some  _ real  _ gods to sacrifice!” 

His comrades laughed and applauded as the ghoul plopped himself down at the nearest feast table. 

Jason tried to steady his breathing, gripping his walking stick. “Who’s that guy?” Dammit, his voice was shaky. 

Annabeth gave him a weird look. He panicked for a moment, thinking she’d call him on it, bench him like a child, but she didn’t comment. “I’m guessing that’s Antinius,” she said, “one of the suitors’ leaders. If I remember right, it was Odysseus who shot him through the neck with that arrow.” 

Piper winced. “You’d think that would keep a guy down. What about all the others? Why are there so many?” 

“I don’t know,” Annabeth said. “Newer recruits for Gaia, I guess. Some must’ve come back to life before we closed the Doors of Death. Some are just spirits.” 

“Some are ghouls,” Jason added, as soon as his vision stopped swimming with Bacchus’s cruel smirk and the corpse-like tone of Nico’s skin sat next to him. “The ones with the gaping wounds and the grey skin, like Antinous.. I’ve fought their kind before.” 

Piper tugged at the folds of her dress. “Can they be killed?” 

Jason remembered a quest he’d taken for Camp Jupiter, four or five years ago, in San Bernardino. “Not easily. They’re strong and fast and intelligent. Also, they eat human flesh.” 

“Fantastic,” Annabeth muttered. “I don’t see any option except to stick to the plan. Split up, infiltrate, find out why they’re here. If things go bad-”

“We use the backup plan,” Piper finished.

Jason hated the backup plan. 

In his ideal world, a backup plan was Percy or Nico or Hazel storming the place, weapons a blur in the harsh light, ground shaking, air darkening, be it from the hurricanes Percy wrapped around himself, or the shadows leaping to serve their master’s children, each of them an army unto themselves. Instead, before they left the ship, Leo had given each of them an emergency flare the size of a birthday candle. Supposedly, if they tossed one into the air, it would shoot upward in a streak of white phosphorus, alerting the  _ Argo II  _ that the team was in trouble. At that point, Jason and the girls would have a few seconds to take cover before the ship’s catapults blasted the mountaintop to smithereens and salted the remains with Celestial bronze shrapnel. 

Not the safest plan, but at least Jason had the satisfaction of knowing that he could call an airstrike on this noisy mob of dead guys if the situation got dicey. Of course, that was assuming he and his friends could get away.  _ And  _ assuming Leo’s doomsday candles didn’t go off by accident - Leo’s inventions sometimes did that, like the bell that was supposed to play something called the Imperial Death March when Nico entered a room but had actually played the Peppa Pig theme tune and nearly resulted in grievous bodily harm - in which case the weather would get much hotter, and their chance of a fiery apocalypse would jump from low twenties to high nineties. 

“Be careful down there,” he told Piper and Annabeth.

Piper crept around the left side of the ridge, and Annabeth took the right. Jason pulled himself up with his walking stick and he hobbled towards the ruins.

He flashed back to the last time he’d plunged into a mob of evil spirits, in the House of Hades. If it hadn’t been for Frank and Nico..

Gods…. _ Nico. _

Over the past few days, every time Jason sacrificed a portion of his meal to the gods, he asked for help for Nico. Mercury, for safe travels. Somnus for restful sleep. Diana for protection. Minerva and Bellona and Mars for strength and wisdom in battle. Pluto, to watch over his son. Hell, even Jupiter, to reign in the storms so that Nico wouldn’t spend every night curled into Reyna’s side, too shaken with fear and grief for his mother to sleep. His incredibly brave friends had gone through so much, and yet they had volunteered for the most difficult job: transporting the Athena Parthenos from the House of Hades all the way to the Long Island Sound. Several thousand miles in just fourteen days, and if they failed...Octavian’s frenzied army of Romans would lay siege on the Greeks, and the two armies would slaughter each other. Then, no matter what happened in Greece, the  _ Argo II  _ would have no home to return to. 

Jason passed through the palace’s ghostly gateway. He realised just in time that a section of mosaic floor in front of him was an illusion covering a ten-foot-deep pit. He didn’t know if the ghouls would be able to cross it, so he sidestepped it instead of summoning the winds. 

The two levels of reality reminded him of the Titan stronghold on Mount Othrys - a disorienting maze of black marble walls that randomly melted into shadow and solidified again. At least during the fight Jason had had a hundred legionnaires at his side. Now all he had was an old man’s body, a stick, and two friends in slinky dresses. 

Annabeth and Piper swept through the room, Piper smiling and filling wine glasses, Annabeth doing her best not to glare as she collected empty plates. 

He reached the edge of the crowd. 

A raspy voice cried, “IROS!” 

Antinous, the ghoul with the arrow in his throat, was staring right at him. “Is that you, you old beggar?”

Hazel’s magic did it’s work. Cold air ripples across Jason’s face as the Mist subtly altered his appearance, showing the suitors what they expected to see. 

“That’s me!” Jason said. “Iros!” 

A dozen more ghosts turned towards him. Some scowled and gripped the hilts of their glowing purple swords. Too late, Jason wondered if Iros was an enemy of theirs, but he’d already committed to the part. 

He hobbled forward. He couldn’t think of any old men he knew, the people of the city had never really spoken to him, so he went  for the next best thing. “Guess I’m late to the party,” he said, trying to imitate Nico’s face before his first three coffees. “I hope you saved me some food?” 

One of the ghosts sneered in disgust. “Ungrateful old panhandler. Should I kill him, Antinous?” 

Jason’s neck muscles tightened. Gods above, Nico and Reyna would never forgive him if he died like this. Nico would bring Reyna to picnic in the underworld, and they would make fun of him for the rest of their lives, and likely for eternity after that. 

Antinous regarded him for three counts, then chuckled. “I’m in a good mood today. Come, Iros, join me at my table.”

Jason didn’t have much choice. He sat across from Antinous while more ghosts crowded around, leering as if they expected to see a particularly vicious arm-wrestling contest. 

Up close, Antinous’s eyes were solid yellow. His lips stretched paper thin over wolfish teeth. At first, Jason thought the ghoul’s curly dark hair was disintegrating, but then he realised that a steady stream of dirt was trickling from Antinous’ scalp, spilling over his shoulders. Clods of mud filled the old sword gashes in the ghoul’s grey skin. More dirt spilled from the base of the arrow wound. 

The power of Gaia, Jason thought. The Earth is holding this guy together. 

Antinous slid a golden goblet and a platter of food across the table. “I didn’t expect to see you here, Iros. But I suppose even a beggar can sue for retribution. Drink. Eat.” 

Thick red liquid sloshed in the goblet. On the plate sat a practically raw cut of meat. 

Jason’s stomach rebelled. His appetite had been slowly declining over the course of the quest. When they’d set off he’d been, well, not bulking exactly - he was buff enough as it was - but he ate more than most of his fellow soldiers. Last night he’d barely been able to choke down a sandwich without tasting the monster dust that had ended up in his mouth in Epirus. 

He recalled what Auster had told him:  _ A wind that blows aimlessly is no good to anyone.  _

Jason’s entire career at Camp Jupiter had been built on careful choices - politics. He mediated between demigods, listened to all sides of an argument, found compromises, intimidated when he had to. Even when he charged against Ronan traditions, he thought before he acted. He wasn’t impulsive. 

Auster had warned him that such hesitation would kill him. Jason had to stop deliberating and take what he wanted. 

If he was an ungrateful beggar, he had to  _ act  _ like one.

He tore into the meat with his fingers and stuffed it into his mouth. He guzzled down some red liquid, which thankfully was just wine, not blood or poison. At first it was like the last few times he’d tried to eat - ashy and tasteless and nauseating. He pushed past it until he was three years old again, with Lupa standing in front of him, pushing a leg of deer or lamb or something towards him. Bellona’s fucking spear, he was  _ starving _ . 

“Yum!” He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand when he was done. “Now tell me about this.. what did you call it? Retribution? Where do I sign up?” 


	15. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet the Graces ft. Some mild spirit fuckery and ghosts with attitude problems

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about last week y’all, it’s uni application season and I had a bit of a situation with my bio teaching about sorting my grade which led to a panic attack which led to me accepting drinking dares from my best friend and then me sleeping for about thirteen hours. It do be like that sometimes ig lol 
> 
> Anywho, enjoy! The main alterations from Rick’s stuff to mine this time is basically Jason’s character arc, I kinda feel like he rehashes the same issues like twenty times but never really deals with the emotional fallout - he decides he’s a child of Greece and Rome, basically like four times, and gets this exhilaration rush and never deals with the oh shit how does that even work, so I decided to make him sad about another issue :D

At Camp Jupiter, the Lares had no physical substance. Jason had a faint memory of Nico grabbing several of them by the ear, but as far as he was aware, even Hazel didn’t share his talent for touching the ghosts as if they were corporeal.

The ghosts here clearly weren’t bound by the same limitations. As they laughed at his eagerness one shoved him, and a spike of fear shot through him. If they were solid enough to touch him, any injury they attempted to inflict would be as substantial as if it had been delivered by a normal monster. 

Antinous leaned forward. “Tell me, Iros, what do you have to offer? We don’t need you to run messages for us like in the old days. Certainly you aren’t a fighter. As I recall, Odysseus crushed your jaw and tossed you into the pigsty.” 

Jason tried desperately to think,  _ Iros _ … the old man who’d run messages for the suitors in exchange for scraps of food. Iros had been sort of like their pet homeless person - kind of like Jason had been for the legion, before he’d proved his prowess. When Odysseus came home, disguised as a beggar, Iros thought the new guy was moving in on his territory. 

“You made Iros-“ Jason hesitated. “You made  _ me  _ fight Odysseus. You bet money on it. Even when Odysseus took off his shirt and you saw how muscular he was.. you still made me fight him. You didn’t care if I lived or died!” 

Antinous bared his pointed teeth. “Of course I didn’t care. I still don’t! But you’re here, so Gaia must have had a reason to allow you back into the mortal world. Tell me, why are you worthy of a share in our spoils?” 

“What spoils?” 

Antinous spread his hands. “The entire world, my friend. The first time we met here, we were only after Odysseus’s land, his money, and his wife.”

“Especially his wife!” A bald ghost in ragged clothes elbowed Jason in the ribs. “That Penelope was a hot little honey cake!” 

Jason caught a glimpse of Piper serving drinks at the next table. She discreetly put her finger to her mouth in a  _ gag me _ gesture, then went back to flirting with dead guys. 

Antinous sneered. “Eurymachus, you whining coward. You never stood a  _ chance  _ with Penelope. I remember you blubbering and pleading for your life with Odysseus, blaming everything on me!” 

“Lot of good it did me.” Eurymachus lifted his tattered shirt, revealing an inch-wide hole in the side of his spectral chest. “Odysseus shot me in the heart, just because I wanted to marry his wife!”

“At any rate..” Antinous turned to Jason. “We have gathered now for a much bigger prize. Once Gaia destroys the gods, we will divide up the remnants of the mortal world!” 

“Dibs on London!” Yelled a ghoul at the next table. 

“Montreal!” Shouted another.

“Duluth!” Yelled a third, which momentarily stopped the conversation as the other ghosts gave him confused looks.

The meat and wine turned to lead in Jason’s stomach. “What about the rest of these...guests? I count at least two hundred. Half of them are new to me.”

Antinous’s yellow eyes gleamed. “All of them are suitors for Gaia’s favour. All have claims and grievances against the gods or their pet heroes. That scoundrel over there is Hippias, former tyrant of Athens. He got deposed and sided with the Persians to attack his own countrymen. No morals whatsoever. He’d do anything for power.”

“Thank you!” Called Hippias. 

“That rogue over there, the one with the turkey leh in his mouth,” Antinous continued, “that’s Hasdrubal of Carthage. He has a grudge to settle with Rome.”

“Mhmm,” said the Carthaginian.

“And Michael Varus-“ 

Jason choked. “ _ Who? _ ” 

Over by the sand fountain, the dark-haired guy in the purple T-shirt and legionnaire armour turned to face them. His outline was blurred, smoky, and indistinct, so Jason guessed he was some form of spirit, but the legion tattoo on his forearm was clear enough: the letters SPQR, the double-faced head of the god Janus and six score marks for years of service. On his breastplate hung the badge of praetorship and the emblem of the Fifth Cohort. 

Jason had never met Michael Varus. The infamous  _ praetor  _ had died in the 1980s. Still, Jason’s skin scrawled when he met Varus’s gaze. Those sunken eyes seemed to bore right through Jason’s disguise. 

Antinous waved dismissively. “He’s a Roman demigod. Lost his legion’s eagle in...Alaska? Was it? Doesn’t matter. Gaia let’s him hang around. He insists he has some insight into defeating Camp Jupiter. But you, Iros - you still haven’t answered my question. Why should  _ you  _ be welcome among us?” 

Varus’s dead eyes had unnerved Jason. He could feel the Mist thinning around him, reacting to his uncertainty.

Suddenly Annabeth appeared at Antinous’s shoulder. “More wine, my Lord? Ooos!” 

She spilled the contents of a silver pitcher down the back of Antinous’s neck.

“Gahh!” The ghoul arched his spine. “Foolish girl! Who let you back from Tartarus?” 

“A Titan, my Lord.” Annabeth dipped her head apologetically. “May I bring you some moist towelettes? Your arrow is dripping.”

“Begone!” 

Annabeth caught Jason’s eye - a silent message of support - then she disappeared into the crowd. 

The ghoul whiled himself off, giving Jason a chance to collect his thoughts.

He was Iros.. former messenger of the suitors. Why would he be here? Why should they accept him? 

He picked up the nearest steak knife and stabbed it into the table, making the ghosts around him jump. 

“Why should you welcome me?” Jason growled, swapping out Nico’s decaffeinated glare for Reyna’s tear-inducing glower. “Because I’m still running messages, you stupid wretches! I’ve just come from the House of Hades to see what you’re up to!”

The last part was true, and it seemed to give Antinous pause. The ghoul glared at him, wine still dropping from the arrow shaft in his throat. “You expect me to believe Gaia sent you - a beggar - to check up on us?” 

Jason laughed. “I was among the last to leave Epirus before the Doors of Death were closed! I saw the chamber where Clytius stood guard under a domed ceiling tiled with tombstones. I walked the jewel-and-bone floor of the Necromanteion!” 

That was also true. Around the table, ghosts shifted and muttered. 

“So, Antinous..” Jason jabbed a finger at the ghoul. “Maybe  _ you  _ should explain to me why  _ you’re  _ worthy of Gaia’s favour. All I see is a crowd of lazy, dawdling dead folk enjoying themselves and not helping the war effort. What should I tell the Earth Mother?” 

Antinous wrapped his hand around the steak knife Jason had impaled into the table. He pulled it free and studied the blade. “If you come from Gaia, you must know we are here under orders. Porphyrion decreed it.” Antinous ran the knife blade across his palm. Instead of blood, dry dirt spilled from the cut. “You do know Porphyrion..?”

Jason struggled to keep his nausea under control. He remembered Porphyrion just fine from their battle at the Wolf House - and every time he’d relieved it in his dreams since. “The giant king - green skin, forty feet tall, white eyes, hair braided with weapons. Of course I know him. He’s a lot more impressive than  _ you.”  _

He decided not to mention that the last time he’d seen the giant king, Jason had blasted him in the head with lightning. 

For once, Antinous looked speechless, but his bald ghost friend Eurymachus put an arm around Jason’s shoulders.

“Now, now, friend!” Eurymachus smelled like sour wine and burning electrical wires. His ghostly touch made Jason’s rib cage tingle oddly. “I’m sure we didn’t mean to question your credentials! It’s just, well, if you’ve spoken with Porphyrion in Athens, you  _ know  _ why we’re here. I assure you, we’re doing exactly as he ordered!” 

Jason tried to mask his surprise.  _ Porphyrion in Athens.  _

Gaia had promised to pull up the gods by their roots. Chiron had assumed that meant that the giants would try to rouse the earth goddess at the original Mount Olympus. But now…

“The Acropolis,” Jason said. “The most ancient temples to the gods, in the middle of Athens, That's where Gaia will wake.” 

“Of course!” Eurymachus laughed. The wound in his chest made a popping sound. “And, to get there, those meddlesome demigods will have to travel by sea, eh? They know it’s too dangerous to fly over land.”

“Which means they’ll have to pass this island,” Jason said.

Eurymachus nodded eagerly. He removed his arm from Jason’s shoulders and filled his finger in the wineglass. “At that point, they’ll have to make a choice, eh?” 

On the tabletop, he traced a coastline, red wine flowing unnaturally against the wood. He drew Greece like a misshapen hourglass - a large dangly blob for the northern mainland, then another blob below it, almost as large - the Péloponnèse. Cutting between them and as a narrow line of sea - the Straits of Corinth. 

Jason hardly needed a picture. He and the rest of the crew had spent the last day at sea studying maps.

“The most direct route,” Eurymachus said, “would be due east from here, across the Straits of Corinth. But if they try to go that way-”

“Enough,” Antinous snapped. “You have a loose tongue, Eurymachus.”

The ghost looked offended. “I wasn’t going to tell him everything! Just about the Cyclopes armies massed on either shore. And the raging storm spirits in the air. And those vicious sea monsters Keto sent to infest the waters. And of course if the ship got as far as Delphi-”

“Idiot!” Antinous lunged across the table and grabbed the ghost’s wrist. A thin crust of dirt spread from the ghoul’s hand, straight up Eurymachus’s spectral arm. 

“No!” Eurymachus yelped. “Please! I-I only meant-”

The ghost screamed as the dirt covered his body like a shell, then cracked apart, leaving nothing but a pile of dust. Eurymachus was gone.

Antinous sat back and brushed off his hands. The other suitors at the table watched him in wary silence. 

“Apologies, Iros.” The ghoul smiled coldly. “All you need to know is this - the ways to Athens are well guarded, just as we promised. The demigods would either have to risk the straits, which are impossible, or sail around the entire Peloponnese, which is hardly much safer. In any event, it’s unlikely they will survive long enough to make  _ that  _ choice. Once they reach Ithaca, we will know. We will stop them here and Gaia will see how valuable we are. You can take that message back to Athens.”

Jason’s heart hammered against his sternum. He’d never seen anything like the shell of earth that Antinous had summoned to destroy Eurymachus. He didn’t want to find out if that power worked on demigods. Also worrying was how confident Antinous sounded that he could detect the  _ Argo II,  _ so far Hazel’s magic seemed to be obscuring the ship, but there was no telling how long that would last. 

Jason had the intel they’d come for. Their goal was Athens. The safer route, or at least the  _ not impossible  _ route, was around the southern coast. Today was the 20th of July, which meant they only had twelve days before Gaia planned to wake on the 1st of August, the ancient Feast of Hope.

They needed to leave while they still had the chance.

But something else bothered him - foreboding twisting his stomach into knots and snaking around his heart. 

Eurymachus had mentioned Delphi, a place Jason had secretly hoped to visit at some point, surely the ancient site of Apollo’s Oracle could offer some insight into his past and future if nothing else could, but if it had been overrun by monsters..

He pushed aside his plate of cold food. “Sounds like everything is under control. For your sake, Antinous, I hope so. Those demigods are resourceful. They closed the Doors of Death. We wouldn’t want them sneaking past you, perhaps getting help from Delphi.”

Antinous chuckled. “No risk of that. Delphi is no longer in Apollo’s control.”

“Ah, of course,” Jason’s mind raced. “And if the demigods sail the long way around the Peloponnese?”

“You worry too much. That journey is  _ never  _ safe for demigods, and it’s much too far. Besides, Victory runs rampant in Olympia. As long as that’s the case, there is no way the demigods can win this war.” 

Jason didn’t understand what that meant either, but he nodded. “Very well. I will report as much to King Porphyrion. Thank you for the, er, meal.”

Over at the fountain, Michael Varus called, “wait.”

Jason bit back a curse. He’d been trying to ignore the dead praetor, but now Varus walked over, surrounded in a hazy white aura, his deep-set eyes like sinkholes. At his side hung an Imperial gold  _ gladius.  _

“You must stay,” Varus said. 

Antinous shot the ghost an irritated look. “What’s the problem, legionnaire? If Iros wants to leave, let him. He smells bad!” 

The other ghosts laughed nervously. Across the courtyard, Piper shot Jason a worried glance. A little further away, Annabeth casually palmed a carving knife from the nearby platter of meat. 

Varys rested his hand on the pommel of his sword. Despite the heat, his breastplate was glazed with ice. “I lost my cohort  _ twice  _ in Alaska - once in life, once in death to a  _ Graecus _ named Percy Jackson. Still I have come here to answer Gaia’s call. Do you know why?” 

Jason swallowed. “Stubbornness?” 

“This is a place longing,” Varus. “All of us are drawn here, sustained not only by Gaia’s power but also by our strongest desires. Eurymachus’s greed. Antinous’s cruelty.” 

“You flatter me,” the ghoul muttered. 

“Hasdrubal’s hatred,” Varus continued. “Hippias’s bitterness. My ambition. And you,  _ Iros.  _ What has drawn you here? What does a beggar desire most? Perhaps a home?” 

An uncomfortable tingle started at the base of Jason’s skull - like an electrical storm the likes of which he’d never seen was brewing. 

“I should be going,” he said. “Messages to carry.” 

Michael Varus drew his sword. “My father is Janus, the god of two faces. I am used to seeing through masks and deceptions. Do you know, Iros, why we are so sure that the demigods will not pass by our island without detection?” 

Jason silently ran through every swear word he could think of - Latin, English, the Spanish and Italian he’d picked up from Reyna and Nico, even a couple French from Piper and Hazel. He tried to calculate how it would take him to get his emergency flare out and fire it. Hopefully he could buy enough time for the girls to find shelter before this mob of dead guys slaughtered him. 

He turned to Antinous. “Look, are you in charge here or not? Maybe you should muzzle your Roman.” 

The ghoul took a deep breath. The arrow rattled in his throat. “Ah, but this might be entertaining. Go on, Varus.” 

The dead praetor raised his sword. “Our desires reveal us. They show us for who we really are. Someone has come for you, Jason Grace.” 

Behind Varus, the crowd parted. The shimmering ghost of a woman drifted forward, and Jason felt as if his bones were turning to dust. If she’d been younger, she could’ve easily been his twin. Or Thalia’s. 

“My dearest,” said his mother’s ghost. “You have come home.”

——

Jason had had panic attacks before. He knew all too well the buzzing in his limbs, the crushing pressure on his chest, the way his vision blurred with tears, the way everything suddenly got so loud and bright and close and  _ too much.  _ He knew the way his hair flickered with lightning that arced off when people came too near, knew the way miniature tempests brewed at his fingertips and grew until he was too dangerous to be near. 

Apparently, pure anxiety was enough to overcome whatever dampening Hazel’s extraordinary power had pulled off, because he could see clouds gathering in his peripheral vision, and his hair crackled as it moved in the wind. 

He didn’t recognise her, not really - there was nothing familiar about her flowery red and green wraparound dress, or the colourful plastic bangles on her wrist, or her over-teased cloud of dyed blonde curls - but she looked enough like him that he knew who she was. Her eyes were the same alarming shade of iceberg blue as his, startling and cold and unapproachable, but they gleamed with fractured light, like she’d just come out of a bunker after hundreds of years, hungrily searching for familiar details in a changed world. The smattering of freckles across the bridge of his nose was hers too, as well as the curls he got if he didn’t blow dry his hair straight and respectable, and the sharp edge of his jawline. 

“Dearest.” She held out her arms. 

Jason’s vision tunnelled. The ghosts and ghouls no longer mattered. His heart pounded, and his ragged breaths echoed in his mind. His Mist disguise burned off as sparks scattered from his fingertips. His posture straightened. His joints stopped aching. His walking stick turned back into an Imperial gold  _ gladius.  _ Thunder rumbled in the distance. 

The burning sensation didn’t stop. He felt as if layers of his life were being seared away - his months at Camp Half-Blood, his decade at Camp Jupiter, his training with Lupa the Wolf goddess. He was a scared and vulnerable two-year-old again, the scar on his lip from when he’d tried to eat a stapler stinging like it was fresh. 

“M-Mom?” He barely managed to spit the words out, too busy trying to stop the tears spilling over. 

“Yes, dearest.” Her image flickered. “Come, embrace me.” 

“You’re - you’re not real.”

“Of course she’s real.” Michael Varus’s voice sounded miles away. “Do you think Gaia would let such an important spirit languish in the Underworld? She is your mother, Beryl Grace, star of television, sweetheart to the King of Olympus, who rejected her not once, but twice, in both his Greek and Roman aspects. She deserves justice as much as any of us.”

Jason’s heart felt wobbly. The suitors crowded around him, pressing in too close too close too close too-

_ I’m their entertainment _ , Jason realised, trying desperately to keep his breathing under control. The ghosts probably found this even more amusing than two beggars fighting to the death.

Piper’s voice cut through the buzzing of the crowd, charmspeak soothing the alarms ringing in his head, if only slightly. “Jason, look at me.”

She stood twenty feet away, holding her ceramic amphora. Her smile was gone, eyes full of concern. “That isn’t your mother. Her voice is working some kind of magic on you - like charmspeak, but more dangerous. Can’t you sense it?” 

“She’s right.” Annabeth climbed onto the nearest table. She kicked aside a platter, startling a dozen suitors. “Jason that’s only a remnant of your mom, like an  _ ara,  _ maybe, or-“

“A remnant!” His mother’s ghost sobbed. “Yes, look at what I have been reduced to. It’s Jupiter’s fault. He abandoned us. He wouldn’t help me! I didn’t want to leave you in Sonoma, my dear, but Juno and Jupiter have me no choice. They wouldn’t allow us to stay together. Why fight for them now? Join these suitors, lead them. We can be a family again!” 

Jason felt hundreds of eyes on him. 

_ This has been the story of my life,  _ he thought bitterly. Everyone had always watched him, expecting him to lead the way. When he’d arrived at Camp Jupiter, he’d only been four, already an orphan, but the Camp’s namesake was enough reason for his fellow demigods to forget his age, forget the family he’d already lost. He was a leader to be groomed, a soldier to be moulded. They’d treated him like a prince in waiting, but one they wanted to manipulate and gain a hold of to steer the course of the city. Despite his attempts to break away from it all - joining the worst cohort, trying to change the camp traditions, taking the least glamorous missions, befriending the least popular kids, carving time out to maintain his reading and maths skills - he’d been made  _ praetor  _ anyways, way before he was reasonably qualified or matured. As a son of Jupiter, his future had been assured. 

He remembered what Hercules had said to him at the Straits of Gibraltar.  _ It’s not easy being a son of Zeus. Too much pressure, eventually it can make a guy snap.  _

Now, here Jason was, drawn as taut as a bowstring. 

“You left me,” he told his mother. “That wasn’t Jupiter or Juno. That was  _ you.”  _

Beryl Grace stepped forward. The worry lines around her eyes, the pained tightness in her mouth, it all reminded him of Thalia. 

“Dearest, I told you I would come back. Those were my last words to you. Don’t you remember?” 

Jason shivered. In the ruins of the Wolf House, his mother had hugged him one last time. She had smiled, but her eyes had been full of tears. 

_ It’s all right,  _ she had promised. But even as a little kid, Jason had known it wasn’t all right.  _ Wait here. I will be back for you, dearest. I will see you soon.  _

It was his oldest memory, something that had stuck with him from the beginning, and it had taught him that the people who were supposed to love him would lie to him, that they would break their promises, and that if they could gain something from it, they’d abandon him in a heartbeat. 

Not, of course, that there was anyone else who was  _ supposed  _ to love him. 

He’d built his whole life around the irritation of her words, like the grain of sand at the centre of a pearl. He followed rules, he kept his promises, he avoided lying where he could, and he never trusted anyone with his heart until he was sure they wouldn’t trade it in for whatever advantage it could get them. 

Now his mom was back, erasing the one certainty Jason had known about her - that she’d left him forever. 

Across the table, Antinous raised his goblet. “So pleased to meet you, son of Jupiter. Listen to your mother. You have many grievances against the gods. Why not join us? I gather the two serving girls are your friends? We will spare them. You wish to have your mother remain in the world? We can do that. You wish to be a king-”

“No,” The ground seemed to spin under his feet. He levitated himself a couple of feet, but that only made him feel worse, the winds shaky and unstable under his panicked control. “No, I don’t belong with you.”

Michael Varys regarded him with cold eyes. “Are you so sure, my fellow praetor? Even if you defeat the giants and Gaia, would you return home like Odysseus did? Where  _ is  _ your home now? With the Greeks? With the Romans? No one will accept you. And,  _ if  _ you get back, who’s to say you won’t find ruins like this?” 

A week ago, Varus’s words would have only fuelled his panic, but now they calmed him. He knew what he was going to do after the war, he wasn’t going to try force a home somewhere he didn’t feel truly welcome, he was going to go out and make his own. 

“You were a legion officer,” he told Varus. “A leader of Rome.”

“So were you,” Varus said. “Loyalties change.” 

“You think I belong with  _ this  _ crowd?” Jason asked. “A bunch of dead losers waiting for a free handout from Gaia, whining that the world owes them something?”

Around the courtyard, ghosts and ghouls rose to their feet and drew weapons. 

“Beware!” Piper yelled at the crowd. “Every man in this palace is your enemy. Each one will stab you in the back at the first chance!” 

Over the last few weeks, Piper’s charmspeak had become unimaginably strong. She spoke the truth, and the crowd believed her. They looked sideways at one another, hands clenching the hilts of their swords.

Jason’s mother stepped towards him. “Dearest, be sensible. Give up your quest. Your  _ Argo II  _ could never make the trip to Athens. Even if it did, there’s the matter of the Athena Parthenos.” 

Fear jolted through him. “What do you mean?” 

“Don’t feign ignorance, my dearest. Gaia knows about your friend Reyna and Nico the son of Hades and the satyr Hedge. To kill them, the Earth Mother has sent her most dangerous son - the Hunter who never rests. But you don’t have to die.”

The ghouls and ghosts closed in - two hundred of them facing Jason in anticipation, as if he might lead them in song. 

_ The Hunter who never reste.  _

Jason didn’t know who that was, but he had to warn Reyna and Nico. 

Which meant he had to get out of here alive.

He looked at Piper and Annabeth, both of whom stood at the ready, waiting for his cue.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y’all are staying safe, and good luck to anyone in my situation with competitive and non competitive uni applications, god knows UCAS is a bitch 🙄🙄


	16. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason stands up to his mum, has a badass fight scene and probably plays fight music in his head, and then gets shanked and does some internal reflection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So in the two weeks since i last posted, I’ve watched the old guard and Julie and the phantoms twice - yes, the whole season - despite how little time I have, which has led to some very unhealthy sleep patterns, but I digress. Unfortunately this means I have now adopted four definitely not straight ghost boys and three not ghost almost certainly not straight girls, as well as three immortal badass women, two immortal warrior husband gays, and a depressed bi himbo French rat bastard, and I honestly don’t have the emotional capacity for it

Jason forced himself to meet his mother’s eyes, palms still sweaty, even if his breathing had evened out and sparks had stopped scattering from his hands. She looked like the same woman who’d been haunting his dreams for weeks, who’d abandoned him in the woods fourteen years ago, with no real assurance of whether he’d live or die. But he wasn’t a toddler anymore, he was a battle veteran, a demigod who’d faced death a thousand times. He’d lived the consequences of her decision, suffered the heartache of his resultant inability to trust, parsed his way through the politics she’d shoved him into. 

What he saw in front of him wasn’t his mother - at least not what a mother  _ should  _ be - caring, loving, selflessly protective. She never really had been any of those things, at least not for him. All he knew was this: she had abandoned him, and Thalia had basically implied he was better off for it. 

_ A remnant,  _ Annabeth had called her.

Michael Varus had told him that the spirits here were sustained by their strongest desires. The spirit of Beryl Grace literally  _ glowed  _ with need. Her eyes demanded Jason’s attention. Her arms reached out, desperate to possess him. 

“What do you want?” He asked. “What brought you here?” 

“I want life!” She cried. “Youth! Beauty! Your father could have made me immortal. He could have taken me to Olympus, but he abandoned me. You can set things right, Jason. You are my proud warrior!” 

Her lemony scent turned acrid, as if she was starting to burn. 

Jason remembered something Thalia had told him. Their mother had become increasingly unstable, until her despair had driven her crazy. She had died in a car accident, the result of her driving whilst drunk.

The wine in Jason’s stomach churned. He vowed there and then that if he lived through this day he would never touch alcohol again. 

“You’re a  _ mania, _ ” Jason decided, the word coming to him from his studies at Camp Jupiter long ago. “A spirit of insanity. That’s what you’ve been reduced to.” 

“I am all that remains,” Beryl Grace agreed. Her image flickered through a spectrum of colours. “Embrace me, son. I am all that you have left.”

The memory of the South Wind spoke in his mind:  _ you can’t choose your parentage. But you can choose your legacy.  _

Jason felt like he was being reassembled, one layer at a time. His heartbeat steadied. The chill left his bones. The last dredges of panic receded. 

“No,” he croaked. He glanced at Annabeth and Piper, thought of Hazel teaching him swing dancing in the late evening sun, of Leo mocking him like he’d always imagined a brother would, of the pride that had bloomed in his chest when Frank had stepped up to the challenge in the House of Hades, of the heart stopping relief when he’d seen Percy and Annabeth. He thought of Reyna and Nico, risking their lives on some insane cross country trip, and how every fibre of him ached to be reunited with them. “My loyalties haven’t changed. My family has just expanded. I’m a child of Greece and Rome.” He looked back at his mother for the last time. “And I’m no son of yours.”

He made the ancient sign of warding off evil - the three fingers thrust out from the heart - and the ghost of Beryl Grace disappeared with a soft hiss, like a sigh of relief. 

The ghoul Antinous tossed aside his goblet. He studied Jason with a look of lazy disgust. “Well, then,” he said. “I suppose we’ll just kill you.”

All around Jason, the enemies closed in. 

——

The fight was going great - until he got stabbed. 

Jason slashed his  _ gladius  _ in a wide arc, vaporising the nearest suitors, then he vaulted onto the table and jumped right over Antinous’s head. In midair he willed his blade to extend into a javelin - a trick he’d never tried with this sword - but somehow he knew it would work. 

He landed on his feet holding a six-foot-long  _ pilum.  _ As Antinous turned to face him, Jason thrust the Imperial gold point through the ghoul’s chest.

Antinous looked down incredulously. “You-“

“Enjoy the Fields of Punishment.” Jason yanked out his  _ pilum _ , and Antinous crumbled to dirt. 

He kept fighting, spinning his javelin in wide arcs, slicing through ghosts, knocking ghouls off their feet. His near miss with a panic attack seemed to have drained him of power, although the occasional blue vein of electricity jumped down his blade, but the fatigue of being an old man was gone. 

Across the courtyard, Annabeth fought like a demon, too, her drakon-bone sword gleamed in the midday sun as it scythed down any suitors stupid enough to face her. 

Over by the sand fountain, Piper had also drawn her sword - the jagged bronze blade she’d taken from Zethes the Boread. She stabbed and partied with her right hand, occasionally shooting fresh produce as deadly projectiles from the cornucopia in her left, all while yelling at the suitors, “save yourselves! I’m too dangerous!” 

That must have been exactly what they wanted to hear, because her opponents kept running away, only to freeze in confusion a few metres downhill, then charge back into the fray. 

The Green tyrant Hippias lunged at Piper, her dagger raised, but Piper blasted him point blank in the chest with a lovely pot roast. He tumbled backwards into the fountain, and screamed as he disintegrated. 

An arrow whistled towards Jason’s face, and he only just managed to blow it aside with a ghost of wind. He cut through a line of sword-wielding ghouls, and noticed a dozen suitors regrouping by the fountain to charge Annabeth. He lifted his javelin to the sky, and dug deep into the anger that had started to build in the pit of his stomach. A bolt of lightning ricocheted off the point and blasted the ghosts to ions, leaving a smoking crater where the sand fountain had been. 

Over the last few months, Jason had fought in loads of battles, but he’d forgotten what it was like to feel  _ good  _ in combat. Of course he was still afraid, but this was an enemy he could beat, and so far, touch would, he hadn’t been knocked out. This wasn’t some invisible god, tugging at his secrets and revealing truths about him he hadn’t fully realised himself, and it wasn’t an endless army of monsters staved off by an undead legion he wasn’t Roman enough to lead. This fight was just him, his skill with his weapon, and as much fucking anger as he could dredge up to fuel himself with. 

He summoned the winds and flung three ghouls off the side of the hill like rag dolls. He skewered a fourth, then willed his javelin to shrink back to a sword and hacked through another group of spirits. 

Soon, no more enemies faced him. The remaining ghosts began to disappear on their own. Annabeth cut down Hasdrubal the Carthaginian, and Jason made the mistake of sheathing his sword. 

Pain flared in his lower back - so sharp and cold he thought Khione the snow goddess had reappeared to finally wreak her revenge.

Next to his ear, Michael Varus snarled, “Born a Roman, die a Roman.” 

The tip of a long steel dagger jutted through the front of his shirt, having narrowly missed his ribcage. 

Jason fell to his knees. Piper screamed miles away. He felt like he’d been tossed into the ocean, weightless and powerless and utterly out of control. 

Piper charged towards him. He watched with an odd sense of detachment as her sword passed over his head and cut through Michael Varus’s armour with a metallic  _ ka-chunk.  _

A burst of cold parted Jason‘s hair from behind. Dust settled around him, and an empty legionnaire’s helmet rolled across the stones. The evil demigod was gone - but he had made a lasting impression. 

“Jason!” Piper grabbed his shoulders as he began to fall sideways. He gasped as she pulled the knife out of him, and stared at the blooming red again on his shirt. Piper lowered him to the ground, and propped his head against a stone.

Annabeth ran to their side. She had a nasty cut on the side of her neck. 

“Gods.” Annabeth stared at the wound in Jason’s gut. “Oh gods.”

“Thanks,” Jason coughed weakly. “I was afraid it might be bad.” 

Dread clambered up his throat, and nausea followed soon after. His hands felt clammy, and exhaustion settled over him like a heavy blanket. He let his head loll back to stare at the sky. He wished it were storming. He and Nico had always joked that they were deserving of the dramatics of dying in a storm. Gods,  _ Nico.  _ Nico was gonna kill him if he died like this, hundreds or thousands of miles away from him, because he was an idiot and sheathed his sword before the battle was over. 

“You’re going to be fine.” Piper’s voice cut through the haze of his thoughts. “Annabeth, ambrosia!” 

Annabeth stirred. “Yeah, I got it.” She ripped through her supply pouch and unwrapped a piece of godly food. 

“We have to stop the bleeding.” Piper used her dagger to cut through the fabric off her dress and tear it into bandages. 

Jason wondered dimly how she knew so much first aid as he allowed Annabeth to push bites of ambrosia into his mouth. 

Gods it would be so fucking funny if he died here. He’d be such a disappointment to Camp Jupiter. They’d had such high hopes for him, and here he was; bleeding out on a mountain top in the ancient lands, after being stabbed by one of his predecessors, not even  _ praetor _ , because he’d given his rank to a son of Pluto and a son of Mars that had only been aware of the mythological world for like, six months, tops, so they could command an army of the undead. Lupa would’ve torn his throat out herself if she could see him now. 

He closed his eyes.  _ Uncle,  _ he thought,  _ I’m not sure if you can hear me, but if I die here, please let Nico know I’m sorry. I never meant to abandon him, and I wish more than anything I could be by his side. Keep him safe for me, please.  _

“Jason’s I-I’m sorry about your mom,” Annabeth’s voice roused him again. “But the way you handled it...that was so brave.” 

“It wasn’t her,” he said. He tried not to think of how she’d looked as she dissipated. “At least, no part of her I could save. There was no other choice.” 

Annabeth took a shaky breath. “No other  _ right  _ choice, mahbe, but.. a friend of mine, Luke. His mom..well not the same, but a similar problem, I guess he didn’t handle it as well.”

Her voice broke. Jason didn’t know much about Annabeth’s past, but Piper glanced over in concern. 

“I’ve bandanged as much as I can,” she said. “Blood is still soaking through, though. I don’t know enough about emergency first aid to fix it.” 

“The ambrosia might take a minute,” Annabeth said. “Sometimes for larger wounds, you can’t see what it’s repairing, at first.” 

Warmth began to seep back into Jason’s limbs. Gods above, he never wanted to feel that cold again. “I don’t feel that bad.” His mind felt clearer, too. “Maybe I could fly..”

He tried to sit up, but black circles blotted out his vision momentarily. When they receded, everything was a worrying shade of green. “Or maybe not..”

Piper caught his shoulder as he keeled sideways. “Woah, sparky. We need to contact the  _ Argo II,  _ get help.” 

“M’kay..” he slumped against her. 

Annabeth scanned the ruins. The magic veneer had faded, leaving only broken walls and excavation pits. “We could use the emergency flares, but-”

“No,” Jason said. “Leo would blast the top of the hill off with Greek fire. Maybe, if you guys helped me, I could walk-“

“Absolutely not,” the girls snapped in unison. 

“That would take too long,” Piper added. She rummaged in her belt pouch and pulled out a compact mirror. “Annabeth, you know Morse code?” 

“Of course.”

“So does Leo.” Piper handed her the mirror. “He’ll be watching from the ship. Go to the ridge-“

“And signal him. Good idea.” She ran to the edge of the ruins. 

Piper pulled out a flask of nectar and gave Jason a sip. “Hang in there. You are  _ not  _ dying from a stupid body piercing, and especially not before you’ve lived long enough to show off the scar.” 

Jason managed a weak smile. “At least it wasn’t a head injury this time. I stayed conscious the entire fight.”

“You defeated, like, two hundred ghosts,” Piper said. “You were  _ scary  _ amazing.”

“You guys helped.”

“Maybe, but.. hey, stay with me.”

Jason’s head started to droop. The cracks in the stones swam in and out of focus. 

“Little dizzy,” he murmured. 

“More nectar,” Piper ordered. “There. Taste okay?” 

“Yeah. Yeah. Fine.”

In fact, the nectar tasted like liquid sawdust, but Jason kept that to himself. Sure he’d made plans to find himself a home, but he hadn’t actually  _ done  _ that, yet. Until he had, nectar and ambrosia had nothing to latch onto. What different was the hot chocolate they served in the winter at Camp Half Blood to any other? 

Antinous’s words rang in his ears - about the giants in Athens, the impossible trio facing the  _ Argo II,  _ the mysterious hunter Gaia had sent to intercept the Athena Parthenos. 

“Reyna, Nico and Coach Hedge,” he said. “They’re in danger. We need to warn them.”

“We’ll take care of it when we get back to the ship,” Piper promised. “Your job right now is to relax.” Her tone was light and confident, but her eyes were brimming with tears. “Besides, those three are a tough group. I’d hate to be the idiot stupid enough to face them off. They’ll be fine.”

Jason hoped she was right. Coach Hedge was annoying sometimes, but he had been a loyal protector for the entire crew. And Nico and Reyna? They were his family. Before all of this quest nonsense, before Juno and her machinations, before the discovery of the other camp, they’d been there for him. Not by necessity, or proximity, or because they’d gain something. Just because they’d looked at him - a big, blond, giant idiot - and seen someone they thought they could like. 

Piper brushed her thumb over his cheek. “Once this war is over..everything will work out for you, okay? And Nico and Reyna. The three of you will be okay.” 

Another wave of pain made him wince. 

“Concentrate on my voice,” Piper murmured. “Think about something good. Birthday cake in the park in Rome-“

“That was nice.”

“Last winter,” she suggested. “The s’mores fight at the campfire.”

“I totally got you.” 

“You had marshmallows in your hair for days!” 

“I did not.”

He knew they should get back to the ship. He was in bad shape. They had the information they’d come for. But as he lay there on the cool stones, Jason felt oddly incomplete. The story of the suitors and Queen Penelope… his thoughts about family….his recent dreams. Those things all swirled around in his head. There was something more to this place, something he’d missed. 

Annabeth came back limping from the edge of the hill. 

“Are you hurt?” Jason asked her.

Annabeth glanced at her ankle. “It’s fine. Just the old break from the Roman caverns sometimes when I’m tired.. that’s not important. I signalled Leo. Frank’s going to change form, fly up here, and carry you back to the ship. I need to make a little to keep you stable.”

Jason had a terrifying image of himself in a hammock, swinging between the claws of Frank the giant eagle, but he decided it would, marginally, be better than dying.

Annabeth set to work. She collected scraps left behind by the suitors - a leather belt, a torn tunic, sandal straps, a red blanket, and a couple of broken spear shafts. Her hands flew across the materials - ripping, weaving, tying braiding.

“How are you doing that?” Jason asked in amazement.

“Learned it during my quest under Rome.” Annabeth kept her eyes on her work. “I’d never had a reason to try weaving before, but it’s handy for certain things, like getting away from spiders..”

She tied off one last bit of leather cord and  _ voilà  _ \- a stretcher large enough for Jason, with spear shafts as carrying handles and safety straps across the middle.”

Piper whistled appreciatively. “Damn..the next time I need a dress altered, I’m coming to you.”

“Shut up, McLean,” Annabeth said, but her eyes glinted with satisfaction. “Now let’s get him secured-“

“Wait,” Jason said. 

His heart pounded. Watching Annabeth and ace the makeshift bed, Jason had finally remembered the story of Penelope - how she’d held out for twenty years, waiting for her husband Odysseus to return. 

“A bed,” Jason said. “There was a special bed in this palace.”

Piper looked worried. “Jason, you’ve lost a lot of blood.”

“I’m not hallucinating,” he insisted. “The marriage bed was sacred. If there was  _ any  _ place you could talk to Juno..” he took a deep breath and called, “Juno!” 

Silence.

Maybe Piper was right, he wasn’t thinking clearly.

Then, about sixty feet away, the stone floor cracked. Branches muscled through the earth, growing in fast motion until a full sized olive tree shaded the courtyard. Under a canopy of grey-green leaves stood a dark haired woman in a white dress, a leopard-skin cape draped across her shoulders. Her staff was topped with a white lotus flower. Her expression was cool and regal.

“My heroes,” said the goddess.

“Hera,” Piper said.

“Juno,” Jason corrected.

“Whatever,” Annabeth grumbled. “What are you doing here, your Bovine Majesty?” 

Juno’s dark eyes glittered dangerously. “Annabeth Chase. As charming as ever.”

“Yeah, well,” Annabeth said. “I just got back from  _ Tartarus _ , so my manners are a little rusty, especially with goddesses who happen to have kidnapped my boyfriend, wiped his memory, then kept him for months, and then-”

“Honestly, child. Are we going to rehash this again?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be suffering from split-personality disorder?” Annabeth asked. “I mean, more so than usual?” 

“Woah,” Jason interceded. He had plenty of reasons to hate Juno too, possibly more than even Annabeth, and he had to admit it would be pretty funny to watch the blonde demigod knock her down a few pegs, but they had other issues to deal with. “Juno we need your help. We - ” Jason tried to sit up and immediately regretted it. His insides felt like they were being twirled on a giant spaghetti fork. 

Piper kept him from falling over. “First things first,” she said. “Jason is hurt. Heal him!”

The goddess let out a put upon sigh, but obligingly brushed her fingers over his wound. The skin began knitting itself back together, although he was left with a knot of gnarly scar tissue and a pulsing ache. 

“Now,” Juno addressed them again. “Our time together is short. I am grateful that you called upon me, in a place that is sacred to me. By clearing away those ghosts, you have purified it and given me a moment of clarity l will be able to speak with you - if only briefly.”

“Can you advise us, at least?” Jason asked. “Tell us what to do?” 

“Sail around the Peloponnese,” said the goddess. “As you suspect, it is the only possible route. On your way, seek out the goddess of victory in Olympia. She is out of control. Until you can subdue her, the rift between Greek and Roman can never be healed.”

“You mean Nike?” Annabeth asked. “How is she out of control?”

Thunder boomed overhead, shaking the hill. 

“Explaining would take too long,” Juno said. “I must flee before Jupiter finds me. Once I leave, I will not be able to help you again.”

Jason bit his tongue before he could blurt out something rude and totally disrespectful and true, like  _ when did you help me the first time?  _

“What else should we know?” He managed.

“As you heard, the giants have gathered in Athens. Few gods will be able to help you on your journey, but I am not the only Olympian who has incurred my husband’s wrath. The twins have also fallen out his favour.”

“Artemis and Apollo?” Piper asked. “Why?”

Juno’s image began to fade. “If you reach the island of Delos, they might be prepared to help you. They are desperate enough to try anything to make amends. Go now. Perhaps we will meet again in Athens if you succeed. If you do not..”

The goddess disappeared, or maybe Jason’s eyesight simply failed him. 

As adrenaline settled in, the latent nausea and fatigue from the events of the last hour or so settled in, and he twisted out of Piper’s lap to heave the contents of his stomach up. 

He sagged back against her. “I fucking hate Greece.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y’all are staying safe in these trying times :)


	17. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason recovers from his light stabbing, dreams about his ghost gf, and has healthy conversations with his friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly I’ve not spell checked this bc I’m tired as fuck so please point out any errors I will correct them as and when I can. This is probably gonna be a two chapters every two weeks thing from now on, just because I’m finding it works better with my work schedule bc I have a two week rotation schedule lol. I hope y’all enjoy :)

As much as Jason loved how comfortable the crew had become around him, he hated being bossed around by a thirteen year old girl threatening to stab him with precious jewels, his ex girlfriend and her magic powers of persuasion, and his 5’6 pyromaniac best friend. There was something a little demeaning about Hazel looking up at him, dark eyes widened in an innocent expression as she sweetly told him to lay the fuck down before she cut his legs off at the knees. 

Obviously Jason did as he was told, partly because Nico would appear out of the shadows to exsanguinate him if he disappointed Hazel, and partly because Hazel would follow through on her threat in a heartbeat. Or, even worse, she might get upset with him for being reckless and uncaring about his own safety, and Jason would rather get stabbed again than make Hazel cry. 

At his friends’ behest, he spent the next two days below deck, resting. 

It was hell. 

Jason wasn’t built for boredom. The wolves had drilled into him that downtime meant he was doing something wrong - how could you claim your pack was safe if you weren’t on the border, making sure? How could you know that the den was clean, food was steady, water was available, if you were laying on your side, doing nothing? 

Camp Jupiter had only furthered that notion. Sure, maybe he wasn’t allowed to fight with the big kids until he hit seven, but he could train before then, using daggers as swords and sticks as javelins, and if he wasn’t training he could be helping out, did the infirmary need help? -  _ What kind of leader will you be if you can’t heal your sick, Grace _ ? - what about the armoury, is it organised? -  _ You must know every sword and it’s place, or how will you know when something is stolen, son of Jupiter? _ \- check in with the border patrol, do they need anything? -  _ Grace you have a big future here, but you must know the name of every legionnaire, what position they prefer, if they get dehydrated easily when on guard in the summer, or if they get cold easily when on guard in the winter. Only then will they follow your lead _ . 

Laying on a bed for two days was his worst nightmare. Every fibre of his being told him to make himself useful. Surely there was  _ something.  _ Maybe Leo needed an extra hand for his repairs, or Frank could use an extra eye for the maps, or Hazel would want to practice her sparring. But every time he dragged himself out of bed to ask, he was met with disappointed sighs and ushered back to bed. 

——

It only got worse when Leo, Percy, Frank and Hazel left to meet Nike. 

He wasn’t..he wasn’t jealous, per say, about not being chosen. He understood the reasoning perfectly: firstly, Nike would ramp up their competitive spirits, and as well as Percy and he got along on their day to day, they couldn’t put any stock into the notion that their friendship could withstand the amplification of the natural rivalry singing in their blood. Normally they worked through the urges by sparring, or random stupid little competitions - one time Jason had been struck by an intense need to tear out Percy’s throat and they’d played noughts and crosses until it had subsided - but it would’ve been ludicrous to expect thag they’d be able to overcome Nike’s power like that. Secondly, Jason had been thoroughly shanked less than two full days ago, and although magic healing from a goddess was nice, his brain was still going through the mindfuckery of coping with the sight of sharp pointy metal sticking out of his torso. 

So he’d stayed behind dutifully, throwing a rubber ball in all directions, and trying to make it do tricks by controlling the winds. It was harder than he’d expected, honestly, and he managed to pass the first hour or so like that, pulling off more detailed tricks until he could bounce it off any number of surfaces in the room in any given order. 

Shockingly, it grew old fast. Sure, Leo could probably camp out in the sick bay for weeks, calculating every infinitesimal angle that he could throw the ball to hit every specific object as required, but Jason didn’t know anywhere near enough maths for that, or have anywhere near enough patience. 

Fortunately, saving grace, thy name is Annabeth. 

“Jason?” Annabeth poked her head into the sick bay. “I figured you’d be going out of your mind by now. Can I come in?” 

“Annabeth!” Jason tried not to look too pathetic as he propped himself up. “Of course! Please! I’m so bored, please talk to me.” 

She laughed and walked in. “How’s the stab wound?” 

He pulled a face. “It got magically healed by a goddess, it’s  _ fine. _ I’ve had enough nectar and ambrosia to burn up a demigod twice my size, and I’ve stared at the table so long i’m pretty sure i could recognise another piece of furniture made from the same tree.” 

  
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry I asked,” Annabeth said, holding her hands up in surrender. “I wanted your thoughts on something, though. If you think you’ve got the time for it.” 

Jason laughed. “Please, what is it?” 

“So obviously we’re hoping Nico and Reyna returning the Athena Parthenos will heal the rift between the camps, right?” 

“Uh, yeah? That’s the plan.” He nodded.

“Okay, but that’s not gonna work long term, is it? The camps, from what I know, are totally different. We’re gonna need ambassadors and diplomats and councils and committees and-“

“Woah there,” Jason held a hand up for her, waiting until she noticed before he started talking. “Look, I understand your concerns, but you’re forgetting a few things.” 

Annabeth sat up indignantly. “Forgetting what?” 

“For starters, Reyna and Nico are two of the best diplomats New Rome has. They make a fantastic good cop - bad cop duo, Camp Half Blood won’t see them coming.”

“Reyna doesn’t seem like much of a good cop,” Annabeth argued. “And people at Camp don’t trust Nico. I guess it must be because of the Greek-Roman divide, because he’s a good guy, but if he goes to intimidate them they’ll freak.”

Jason blinked. “Why would Nico be the bad cop? He’s five foot three at a stretch, malnourished, and fifteen. Reyna is seventeen, five foot ten, and stacked. Sure he can do the spooky ghost thing, but leave him to his own devices and he'll probably use his powers to get McDonalds, steal a tv, and raise a ghost to watch cartoons with. Percy controls the shit that makes up like seventy percent of our bodies, I could collapse your lungs without a second thought, Hazel could solidify all the iron in your blood, and you guys worry about Nico reanimating your corpse once you’re dead?” 

Annabeth blinked. “I..I guess you’re right. I mean..well, he did want to kill Percy got a while..”

“When he was what, twelve? Thirteen?” Jason replied flatly. “I’m not, I’m not trying to question your - well actually, I am questioning your judgment. I don’t know what he was like before I met him, and honestly, I hardly know what he was like after I did, my memories of my last couple years are still foggy, but over a hundred kids collectively decided - what? Let’s just shun this kid because he’s going through a real fuckin’ hard time and lashing out a bit and his dad is scary? And Chiron was like “okay, cool”?” 

“That’s not what happened!” Annabeth clenched her fists. “You didn’t know him, Jason. At twelve he was powerful enough to cleave the dining pavilion floor in half to sink a couple skeletons that the rest of us couldn’t kill at all. Sure he was a kid, but he was a dangerous kid.”

“ _ Is, _ ” Jason corrected. “He is a kid. And yeah, but so is Percy. He could sink this boat or flood the camp just ‘cause. The only difference is Percy went through a different kind of trauma, one that you all knew how to handle better. Anyways,” he ran a hand through his hair. “Anyways. Reyna and Nico will be fine with starting negotiations. Will Solace will probably decide that he needs to keep Nico in a light room with access to plenty of food and water for several months, but otherwise they’re a solid diplomacy team. When we get back, we can help.”

Annabeth sighed and nodded. “I just want everyone to get along. I want to be able to go to New Rome University, and train the kids at Camp Half Blood, but I don’t know how that’s gonna work. One the one hand, we’ve got a summer camp with a few year rounders. On the other, we’ve got a well trained army and a city. They’re not exactly gonna integrate easily.”

“I don’t know, to be honest. But..I’m not planning on sticking around. Talk to Frank. After Nico and Reyna, he’s the next most powerful person in New Rome, now.” He summoned a warm breeze to hold close to his chest, like a hot water bottle. 

“You’re-“ Annabeth blinked. “You’re not planning on sticking around? Where are you going to go?” 

“I’ve got no idea.” He laid back down, tugging the sheets over himself. “School, first. Then we’ll see what I fancy.” 

“Oh..” she nodded awkwardly, then pulled herself together. “I hope you find it, whatever it is you’re looking for. And..well.. I hope you come home to visit. We’ll miss you.”

“Of course you will,” he waved a hand. “I’m fucking delightful. But I will. I’ll miss you guys too. I just need. I need something else. There’s too much riding on me here. I’m not some terrifying Roman leader who kills children for incorrect sword technique, but I’m not some happy go lucky Greek golden retriever that occasionally sparks lightning from time to time, either. I need to figure out where in the middle I am, without the people from my old life constantly telling me what they remember about me.” 

“I understand.” Annabeth gripped his shoulder for a moment. “There’ll always be a place for you at CHB, if you need a place to crash, though.” She kissed his cheek and stood up. 

“I know,” he smiled tiredly. “Thank you.”

She nodded. “Anytime.”

——

Annabeth had barely left the room by the time Jason fell asleep, the drain of exercising his powers hitting him suddenly, and he was pretty sure he was out before his head hit the pillow.

As usual with his more..demigodly dreams, he was thrown straight into it, so that falling asleep felt more like his soul was being plucked out of his body and forcibly shoved into whatever scenario he needed to observe, instead of slowly slipping into a restful quiet. 

This time was worse than usual.

Instead of watching Rachel Dare, or Camp Half Blood, or even the ever advancing Camp Jupiter, he found himself standing in a shadowy room with no discernable features. At least until Nico stepped out of the shadows. 

“Jay?” His body flickered and his voice was distorted. “Jay can you hear me?” 

“Yeah Neeks,” Jason cleared his throat. “I can hear you. How did you manage to reach me? I thought your powers didn’t work as well in the ancient lands?” 

“We’re nearing the edge of Europe,” Nico explained. “Besides, communication within the ancient lands isn’t too bad, it’s trying to cross the barrier. That’s why I wanted to grab you tonight, we’ll be out of Europe soon, and I don’t know if I’ll be able to reach you once we’re out of it. Plus we’re only a couple stops away from the British Isles, which are entrenched in Celtic mythology. I don’t know how much power I’ll have.”

Jason blinked, momentarily distracted. “That can happen? Other mythological domains can weaken us?” 

The state Nico shot at him reminded him oddly of the way Annabeth looked at Percy when he said something oblivious. “Yeah, ‘course. Sure my dad controls shadows everywhere, but he’s strongest in Rome, so it makes sense that Arawn and Morrigan and others like them have the strongest power in Ireland, which is where we’re aiming.” 

“That makes sense. I guess I never really thought about it. So..” Jason thought about moving closer, then decided not to. Nico was in control here, if he wanted to be touched, he’d say so. “Why did you..call me? Is that what this is?” 

“I guess,” Nico said, shuffling closer. “You can hug me. If you want. That would be okay. I just wanted to check in on you, make sure everyone is okay.” 

Jason wrapped his arms around Nico immediately. “Gods above, Neeks. I miss you and Rey so much. I got mildly stabbed and now no one is letting me do anything! Annabeth came to talk to me about diplomacy, and that’s the most exciting thing that’s happened to me in days.”

Nico’s eyes narrowed dangerously. The effect was kind of dulled by the fact that he was craning his neck up to glare from that close. “You got  _ stabbed _ ?” 

“First of all, I got  _ mildly _ stabbed by the ghoul of Michael Varus, and second of all, it got healed by Juno, like, ten minutes later. Even Percy and Leo won’t let me do things, and I thought if I could count on anyone for some reasonable recklessness it would be those two.” Jason was well aware he was pouting, but the situation definitely deserved it. 

Nico thudded his head against Jason’s collarbone. “You got stabbed, Jay. I think that’s a reasonable thing to get concerned about. Juno’s not exactly known for her magnanimity, either.” 

Jason made a mimicking sound. “I’m just bored, and my powers aren’t working very well. Summoning lightning is getting hard again.” 

“It’s about your emotions, remember?” Nico said. “You always explained to me that you have this core of power in your chest, but a well of emotions in your stomach. Your first instinct is to draw from the power, because it’s more accessible, but it’s not sustainable. The first full storm I ever saw you summon was after Octavian really pissed you off.”

“So..if I think about how annoying Octavian is...my powers will work?” 

“You’re so lucky you’re-“ Nico cut himself off with a cough. “Um...not quite? I think it only worked because you were absolutely raging at him. Maybe..I guess if you got mad at your dad, or Cupid..or thought about how much you miss Thalia and..uh, us, maybe? Stuff like that. Or even positive stuff, like finding Leo and Piper, things like that.” 

“I hate this,” he mumbled. “I just feel so fucking useless all the time. Sure, I can fly, big whoop, but that’s not particularly useful when I can do fuck all else.”

“That’s not true. You’re just going through a block. It happened to me when I started feeling happier once I got to Camp Jupiter because I’d been feeding my powers on my unhappiness and anger for so long. It was you and Reyna and Hazel who helped me through that. You can do this.”

Jason took in a shaky breath. “Yeah. Okay. I’ve got this. How are you and Reyna? And Hedge, obviously.”

Nico smiled. “We’re good. It’s pretty rough going, and I’m definitely tiring out a bit, but once we get to Dingle I’ll have ages to sleep and make sure I’m ready for the journey. I’m gonna let you get some proper restful sleep now, but give the team my best, okay?”

“Okay.” Jason squeezed Nico closer, pressing his face into Nico’s hair. “Say hey to Reyna for me? And tell Coach that Buford’s got nothing on him.” 

“I promise.” 

——

Somehow, Jason slept for a solid eighteen hours, and woke up the next day to Piper and Frank returning from the Port of Pylos, where, according to Leo, they’d been searching for a poison that Nike had told them they’d need. 

He stumbled out of bed and up onto the foredeck, where they’d decided to have the meeting, seeing as Percy was keeping an eye on a giant red sea serpent swimming off the port side. 

“That thing is  _ really  _ red,” Percy muttered. “I wonder if it’s cherry-flavoured.”

“Why don’t you swim over and find out?” Annabeth asked.

“How about no.”

“Anyway,” Frank interrupted. “According to my Pylos cousins, the chained god we’re looking for in Sparta is my dad...uh, I mean Ares, not Mars. Apparently the Spartans kept a statue of him chained up in their city so the spirit of war would never leave them.”

“Oh-kay..” Leo said. “The Spartans were freaks. Of course, we’ve got Victory tied up downstairs, so I’m not sure we can really cast much judgment.”

Jason leaned against the forward ballista. Sweet baby Apollo, how was he still tired? “On to Sparta, then. But how does a chained God’s heartbeat help us find a cure for dying?” 

Hazel turned to Piper. “You’ve been having visions, right? Have they given you any ideas about how this heartbeat is supposed to help us?” 

Piper stared blankly at the mast. 

Hazel snapped her fingers in front of Piper’s face. “Piper?” 

Piper blinked rapidly, eyes darting about as though she’d forgotten where she was. “Sorry, just thinking. What is it?” 

“I was asking you about the vision,” Hazel prompted. “You told me you’d seen some stuff in Katropis’ blade?” 

“Oh, right. Yeah, totally.” Piper unsheathed Katropis. Before their mission in Ithaca, Piper had told Jason about how she’d started seeing their past - her father at the top of Mount Diablo, beaten bloody, he and Percy fighting giants in the Colosseum in Rome, Achelous the river god, pleading for his cornucopia. Jason had always been wary of her knife, but now he was more so. 

“I, um..” Piper’s voice wavered slightly. “I don’t see anything right now. But one vision keeps popping up. Annabeth and I are exploring some ruins-“

“Ruins!” Leo rubbed his hands together. “Now we’re talking. How many ruins can there be in Greece?” 

“Shut up, Leo,” Annabeth flicked his shoulder fondly. “Let Piper speak. Do you think it was Sparta, Pipes?” 

“Maybe,” Piper said. “Anyway...suddenly we’re in this dark place like a cave. We’re staring at this bronze warrior statue. On the vision I touch the statue’s face and flames start swirling around us. That’s all I saw.”

Frank pulled a face. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

“Me neither,” Percy kept one eye on the red sea serpent, which was still slithering through the waves about a hundred yards away. He pulled his gaze away long enough to knock his shoulder against Frank’s reassuringly. “If the statue engulfs people in fire, we should send Leo.”

“Thanks, man. I love you too.”

“You know what I mean. You’re immune. Or, heck, give me some of those nice water grenades and  _ I’ll go _ . Ares and I have tangled before.”

Only a couple years ago, and something like that would’ve riled Jason right up. He’d take it as a challenge -  _ I’ve tangled with Ares, what have you done, Jason _ ? These days, he was sick enough of the gods to recognise the weariness in Oercy’s voice for what it was. He wasn’t subtly bragging, he was stating a fact -  _ I’ve fought Ares, I’m less likely to die.  _

Annabeth stared at the coastline of Pylos, now retreating into the distance. “If Piper saw the two of us going after the statue, then that’s who should go. We’ll be alright. There’s always a way to survive.” 

“Not always,” Hazel warned. 

Since she was the only one in the group who had actually died and come back to life, her observation sort of killed the mood. Jason held his arms out to her, and folded them around her loosely when she moved closer. 

“You okay, kiddo?” He asked quietly, trying to avoid getting her hair in his mouth. 

“Yeah,” she sagged against him. “I’m just tired of all this. I miss Nico, and my friends back at Camp Jupiter.”

“We’ll see them soon, yeah? Just gotta put grandma back to sleep.” He nodded over her shoulder for the others to continue talking. 

After a moment Frank held out the vial of Pylosian poison. “What about this stuff? After the House of Hades, I kind of hoped we were done drinking poison.”

“More fool you,” Leo responded snarkily, “I, for one, love me some poison. Good for the soul, no?” 

Annabeth laughed quietly, then smiled at Frank kindly. “Store it securely in the hold. For now that’s all we can do. Once we figure out this chained god situation, we’ll head to the island of Delos.”

“ _ The curse of Delos,”  _ Hazel’s voice was muffled against Jason’s shoulder, but she made no move to pull away. “That sounds fun.” 

“Hopefully Apollo will be there,” Annabeth said. “Delos was the birthplace of he and Artemis. He’s the god of medicine, so hopefully he should be able to advise us.”

Off the port now, the cherry-flavoured sea serpent spewed steam.”

“I guess that’s our cue,” Percy sighed. “That thing is definitely checking us out. Let’s take to the air for a while, maybe? We can’t afford to waste time fighting every sucker we meet.”

“Airborne it is!” Leo flashed Jason a grin. “Festus, do us the honours, kind sir?” 

The bronze dragon figurehead creaked and clacked. The ship’s engine hummed. The oars lifted, expanding into aerial blades with a sound like ninety umbrellas opening at once, and the  _ Argo II  _ rose into the sky.

“While we’re all here,” Jason said just as Leo opened his mouth. “Nico reached out to me in my dream yesterday. He wanted you all to know that they’re fine, and they’re only a couple stops away from Ireland. He says he won’t be able to contact us once he’s left the ancient lands entirely, but his connection from Ireland might not be great either.”

Annabeth nodded. “Warring mythologies, right?” 

“Bingo,” Jason smiled tiredly. “If he can’t get a hold of anyone, he says to give you all his best.” 

Percy looked appropriately touched. “Aww. I miss the little bastard. Hopefully he’s okay.”

Leo thumped his chest twice then threw up a peace sign in what Jason assumed was some odd salute. “To Death Lite. But, speaking of travel, we should reach Sparta by first light. Also, because I am a benevolent leader, I shall be making my famous three-alarm tofu tacos, so I suggest you all remember to stop by the mess hall at some point tonight.”

“To Admiral Leonidas,” Piper teased. To Jason’s delight, the whole team echoed her, even as Leo squawked at them to stop.

Once they’d calmed a bit, he swayed Hazel gently. “You wanna talk?”

“I..I don’t know. Maybe? Not now, though. I think I’m gonna go try take a nap.” Hazel untangled herself, rubbing her eyes like a sleepy kid. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”

“For Admiral Leonidas’ famous three-alarm tofu tacos.” Jason nodded solemnly. 

“As seen on tv,” Hazel said, before disappearing below deck. 

  
  
  
  



	18. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason has some serious self reflection and learns to use his powers again, yay! Also a nice conversation with Leo about asexuality :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone watched Julie and the Phantoms or the Old Guard? P sure they’re my only source of serotonin atm lol

Before Jason went on duty that night, he stopped in to check on Piper. He’d definitely been avoiding her for a while, trying to make things as un-awkward as possible, but he’d been worried about how spacey she’d been at their meeting. 

“Hey, Pipes.” He poked his head into her room. “Mind if I stop to chat for a second? I’m about to go on duty.”

“Yeah of course.” She smiled at him and patted on the bed next to her. He followed her instructions and sat down. “What is it?”

“I just wanted to see if you were okay? You seemed a bit spaced out, earlier.”

Piper rested her head on his shoulder. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just worried, I guess. We’ve been travelling for weeks, completing..well, basically mini quests, and now we’re in the home stretch. How are we supposed to go back to normal after this?” 

I don’t think we are, Beauty Queen.” He waved off her concerned glance. “Think about it. Before, the gods fucked about doing whatever they wanted and never accepted the consequence. Romans and Greeks were kept apart - siblings were kept apart. Demigods like Nico and Hazel and Percy were used as chess pieces by whichever god or goddess decided they’d be useful. I think this thing is gonna shake our world to its core, and I think it’s about time.”

“Aren’t you scared, though? Whatever change this war with Gaea and each other brings..Jaybird, it’s gonna be huge. Like, change everything we’ve known, huge.”

“Of course I’m scared.” He rested his head against hers. “This is changing everything you’ve known for six months, but it’s changing everything I’ve known since I was two. I’m terrified. But..I’ve lived it long enough to see through the facade. Percy is getting there, though I think he’s had a bit of a fasttrack there, and so is Annabeth. But..my whole life has been this shit. I’m terrified of it changing, but I’m so much more scared of it staying the same.” 

“Would you really scrap everything? Start all over again?” Piper asked.

“No, it would displace too many people, and I don’t pretend to know what’s best for everyone. I think Camp Half Blood and Camp Jupiter can learn from each other though.” Jason sat up a bit straighter. “We shouldn’t separate the kids by parent, like at Camp Half Blood, but we should gives the kids time to focus on their godly powers. We shouldn’t force kids into an army, like at Camp Jupiter, but we should promote a camp wide fighting spirit. That kind of thing.”

“You’d be so good at this.” Piper told him, messing with his fingers. “Why are you planning on leaving, again?” 

He rolled his eyes fondly. “The Senate and the Camp Counselors will have this kind of thing sorted. I’ll keep in touch with you all, lend my ideas if you want ‘em, but I’m not interested in being too involved. I’ve got a lot of things to work through before I can invest myself in something that big.” 

“When did you get all wise and grown up, huh?” She grinned at him. “Seriously though, I’m happy you sorted everything out. I think you’re making the right choice.”

Jason squirmed slightly. “How can you be sure? It’s not that I’m second guessing myself, I’m just..everyone seems so encouraging and I don’t know..are you sure?”

Piper studied the tattoo on his forearm - SPQR, the eagle of Jupiter, eleven lines for eleven years of service to the legion. “My dad used to tell me this story about making choices..” she shook her head. “Nevermind, I’ll sound like Grandpa Tom.”

“No, please tell me,” Jason said. “If you’re comfortable with that.” 

“Well… these two Cherokee hunters were out in the woods, right? Each of them was under a taboo.”

“A taboo - something they weren’t allowed to do?”

“Yeah,” Piper began to relax. “So one of the hunters, he wasn’t supposed to eat deer meat. The other guy wasn’t supposed to eat squirrel meat.”

“Why?”

“Hey, I don’t know. Some Cherokee taboos were permanent no-no’s, like killing eagles,” she explained, tapping the symbol on Jason’s arm. “ _ That  _ was bad luck for almost everybody. But sometimes, individual Cherokee took on temporary taboos - maybe to cleanse their spirit, or because they  _ knew,  _ from listening to the spirit world, or whatever, that the taboo was important. They went with their instincts.” 

“Okay,” Jason nodded slowly. He felt like he’d heard something similar before, but he couldn’t place it. 

“So these hunters were out in the woods all day. The only thing they caught all day was squirrels. At night they made camp and the guy that  _ could  _ eat squirrel meat started cooking it over the fire.”

“Yum..”

“Another reason I’m a vegetarian. Anyways, the second hunter, who wasn’t allowed squirrel meat,  _ he  _ was starving. He just sat there clutching his stomach while his friend ate. Finally the first hunter started feeling guilty. “Ah, go ahead,” he said. “Eat some.” But the second hunter resisted. “It’s taboo for me. I’ll get in serious trouble. I’ll probably turn into a snake or something.” The first hunter laughed. “Where did you get that crazy idea? Nothing will happen to you. You can go back to avoiding squirrel meat tomorrow.” The second hunter knew he shouldn’t, but he ate.”

Jason tapped his fingers against the duvet, doing his best to pay attention even as his mind begged to wander. “What, uh, what happened?” 

“In the middle of the night, the second hunter woke up screaming in pain. The first hunter ran over to see what was wrong. He threw off his friend’s covers and saw that his friend’s legs had fused together in a leathery tail. As he watched, snakeskin crept up his friend’s body. The poor hunter wept and apologised to the spirits and cried in fear, but there was nothing to be done. The first hunter stayed by his side and tried to comfort him, until the unfortunate guy finally transformed into a giant snake and slithered away. The end.” 

“Wow.” Jason blinked. “Uh, thanks? I think?” 

“They’re not always cheerful,” Piper reminded him. “But they still help us.”

“Can you..” Jason stared at the bedcovers and hoped he didn’t sound stupid. Thanks, Camp Jupiter, for the excellent schooling. “Can you explain it to me?” 

Her face softened, and she gripped his hand properly. “Of course. The point is that you should trust your instincts. Squirrel meat might be just fine for one person, but taboo for another. The second hunter  _ knew  _ he had a serpent spirit inside him, waiting to take over. He  _ knew  _ he shouldn’t feed that bad spirit by eating squirrel meat, but he did it anyway.” 

“So…  _ I  _ shouldn’t eat squirrels?” He tried for a joke.

Piper laughed, and prodded his chest. “You, Jason Grace, are very familiar with your own bad spirits, and you try your best not to feed them. You have solid instincts, and you know how to follow them. Whatever annoying qualities you may have, you are a genuinely good person who always tries to make the right choice. So no more talk about not trusting that we support you and your decisions.” 

Jason debated with himself for a second about hugging her, and moved to do so just as there was a knock on the door.

Leo leaned inside. “A party? Am I invited?” 

Jason grinned and held an arm out. “Of course, bro. I hate up?” 

“Yay, I love you guys, always handing out cuddles to li’l ol’ me.” Leo dived into the bed and snuggled up to the pair of them. “Not much. There’s the usual obnoxious  _ venti  _ trying to destroy the ship, though. You ready for guard duty?” 

“Yeah ‘course, man.” Jason stood up and pressed obnoxious kisses to both their cheeks. “Thanks, Pipes. You comin’, hot stuff?” 

“Hell yeah, sparky.”

——

_ Venti.  _ Jason could do  _ venti.  _

Unfortunately, he’d learned a few battles ago that blasting them with lightning essentially acted as a booster for them, so he couldn’t trial out Nico’s emotions trick, but it was as good an excuse as any to lose himself in a battle he was almost certain to win - unless of course he pulled a rookie mistake like forgetting to hold his breath,  _ again.  _

Once the fight was over, quite neatly if he did say so himself, he sat down heavily against the mast and held his arms out in grabby hands until Leo cuddled against him obligingly. 

“Còmo estás, hermano?” 

“Oh!” Jason grinned excitedly. “I remember this one.” He held his hands up like he was demanding silence, then sounded out the words. “Estoy bien, gracias. Y tu?” 

Leo applauded him dramatically. “Aww, I’m so proud. Baby’s first Spanish.” 

“Hey, you’re a better teacher than Reyna. I have a very faint memory of her throwing a knife at me because I said I wanted a dick salad not a chicken salad.”

“Ah.” Leo nodded, gazing into the distance like a weary soldier. “Polla versus pollo is a fucky bastard. Not that there’s anything wrong with a dick salad, if you catch my drift..” he wiggled his eyebrows frantically. 

Jason breathed in shakily. “Not my thing,” he said slowly, tapping his fingers against his thigh jerkily. “Sex, that is. Not dick in particular. I like guys just as much as girls. Just. Not..not the..not the sex part.” 

“Oh.” Leo was silent for a moment. “So you’re asexual? Cool. Thanks for telling me, man.” 

“I’m. What?” Jason blinked, too confused for the tears of relief he knew would come later. 

“Asexual?” Leo cocked his head. “You know, no sexual attraction? Will Solace is asexual. It’s a thing. The internet could explain it to you in better detail, but demigods and tech is a bad idea. I’m working on that one, though.” 

“Woah woah, Leo. Hold up.” Jason patted Leo’s arm. “Rewind. It’s a thing? Like, an actual thing that people are? It has a name? I know someone else like me?” 

“Yeah, buddy. There are people like you. Will said it’s fairly common in demigods, especially the ones who’ve been through some shit, though more commonly as a trauma response that they recover from than their actual sexuality, but it’s not abnormal either.” Leo shuffled away slightly and held his arms open, allowing Jason to fold himself down to tuck under Leo’s arms. “One of my foster sisters once was asexual, too.” 

“Do you..I know you remember a lot of stuff. Do you remember any specific stuff about it?” Jason’s voice was still small, and his hands were shaking minutely. 

Leo hummed. “Uh, it’s a spectrum. I think. My foster sister was sex positive, so she still had sex sometimes, and enjoyed it, she just didn’t feel sexually attracted to people. At least, that’s how she explained it to me. Will said he’s sex-repulsed, so he never wants to have sex, and he’s like..actively against the idea of doing it. And you can be anywhere in between? I’m just regurgitating what they’ve said but we’ll visit a library in New York or something when we get home, yeah?” 

“Or you’ll invent the first demigod-friendly mobile phone,” Jason chimed in. 

“Or I’ll invent the first demigod-friendly mobile phone,” Leo agreed. 

“Do you think..do you think I should tell Piper? I know she’d be great about it, but what if she thinks that’s why I broke up with her? Or what if she takes it personally, and she thinks she’s unattractive and that’s why I think I don’t want sex? Gods, Leo, her mom is the goddess of love and beauty and sex stuff what if she thinks I’m broken? What if she hates me because I’m defying her mom?” 

“Jay!” Leo grabbed his face gently. “Bro, calm the fuck down! This is our Pipes we’re talking about. Beauty Queens, our very own mini movie star. First of all, the Aphrodite cabin are like, totally woke about this kind of shit, so even if Piper was weird about it,  _ they  _ wouldn’t. Second of all, Piper would never be weird about it, because  _ she’s our Piper  _ and she loves you.”

“Us,” Jason corrected softly. “She loves us.” 

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Anyways,” Leo punched his shoulder, “you can tell her if you want to tell her because she’s one of your best friends, or you can not tell her because you’re scared of the outcome. Just...I don’t know...do whatever makes you happy?” 

Jason laughed, rested his head against Leo’s side. “Gods, I’m sorry. I made you have an emotional conversation, didn’t I? How dare I?”

“Exactly!” Leo huffed. “You come onto my ship, make me be honest about my unconditional love and support for you. How could you?”

Jason grinned slyly. “We could always talk about my and Piper’s unconditional love and support for  _ you,  _ if you would prefer that?”

“Absolutely not!” Leo shoved him off, making wrenching sounds. “That’s enough for today, no threatening your lovely best friend when he’s just trying to be nice!” 

“Roar! I’m a monster that’s gonna love you unconditionally and offer you affection and attention whenever you want or need it and you’re never gonna be a burden to me because you’re like my big brother!” Jason waved his arms in the air, pulling a face like a little kid. 

Leo scrambled to his feet. “Stay back, bitch! I have the power of god and anime on my side!” He held out a flaming hand. “Ahh!”

After a beat where he decided not to break it to his friend that he had no idea what in Mars’ name anime was, Jason smiled up sincerely at Leo. “I love you, man. You know that?” 

Leo laughed awkwardly, and scuffed his feet against the deck. His cheeks glowed - literally - in the night. “Yeah. I know. I..I love you too.” 

——

They arrived in Sparta to the perfect weather to relearn how to brew a storm - grey clouds gathering in the distance, a faint smell of ozone, and enough charge in the air to make his hair stand on end. 

Jason wasn’t awake to see Piper and Annabeth off - as much as he protested being coddled regarding his minor stabbing, he had to admit that the mental toll of seeing steel poking out of his abdomen after meeting the angry remnant of his mother had left him sleeping as much as he could - but he stumbled up to deck at around lunchtime, determined to at least make his hair staticky. 

Step one: find something to feel things about. 

As easy as step one sounded, Jason had to admit that he was pretty terrible for feeling his feelings. Every bad thing that happened to him was shoved into a small box in a dark room that had a spacecraft-esque decontamination chamber that meant he didn’t bring feelings out whenever he put more in. As much as it had helped with the whole not-having-a-breakdown-about-being-raised-by-wolves thing, it was a little less helpful in the him-being-emotionally-stunted-and-unavailable department. 

If he reached for something to fuel his lightning - say his anger at being abandoned as a two year old and raised by wolves and then an army that never properly cared for him as a growing human that needed adequate educated and psychological support - who was to say he wouldn’t start attempting to process other things - such as his step mother convincing his mother to abandon him, then claiming his as her champion, kidnapping him, wiping his memories, and then not returning them to he could be involved in her plot to save the world from her grandmother -?

At first, he decided to start small. What was he happy about? Hazel trusting him to hold her when she was upset. What was he angry about? The unfairness of a group of 13-17 year olds being expected to save the world. What was he sad about? Two of his best friends were potentially thousands of miles away and unreachable and in terrible danger. 

Unfortunately, that didn’t seem to do much. He needed something bigger, something to kickstart his powers and bring them back to life. What was he happy about? The term  _ asexuality  _ and the acknowledgment that he wasn’t alone or weird or broken. What was he angry about? Cupid had forced him to process everything his step mother had done to him, including masking his sexuality, before he was ready to process it, in front of someone he didn’t remember being friends with. What was he sad about? His mother was a  _ mania  _ who had died drinking and driving and who couldn’t let go of what she’d almost had in her life, and he’d never get to see her again.

_ There _ .

Nico’s words echoed in his head, and he imagined himself grabbing onto balloons that contained his emotions, tugging them down until he had enough to fly with.   
  
Step two: turn that into electricity 

Warmth flickered in his chest, weak, but something tangible he could shield from the world with his hands and coax into something powerful. 

_ What am I happy about?  _ Reuniting with Reyna and Nico and having the three of them just existing together again, even if his memories were funny, his heart had known that was where he belonged. Realising he’d been the one to summon the storm at Cupid’s palace in Split. The first time Leo had called him brother. Annabeth complimenting his strategy in a tense game of capture the flag. 

_ What am I angry about?  _ Being dragged away from them in the first place, not being able to remember every single damn moment with them, not knowing why Pluto considered him a son, or remembering the moments where he might have felt like he had a real father. Barely being literate because of how little focus the old leaders of Camp Jupiter had put into his formal education. Not learning to deal with his dyslexia and ADHD and, if Will Solace was right, anxiety, like the other little Roman soldier kids as a result. 

_ What am I sad about?  _ If he hadn’t have suffered those things, he never would have met Leo or Piper or Annabeth or Percy or Will. In another life where he hadn’t been kidnapped and brainwashed, he’d never have his new family to mesh with his old, and he might never have been told that people like him existed. How much everyone had had to go through just to get them to this point, and how if everyone’s lives had just been a tiny bit better, if they’d been hurt a tiny bit less, he might have just passed them by, never knowing the potential they had to be family. 

The spark in his chest branched out, until his veins were glowing a soft purple, and his hair was crackling in the winds speeding up around him. 

_ What am I happy about?  _ Flying the nest. Having a go at a mortal life. Learning to do the complex maths he’d occasionally seen when he’d poked his head into the Athena cabin looking for Malcolm or Annabeth. Playing football or baseball or soccer or something equally as trivial, for stakes as low as popularity, but putting his all into it anyways. Visiting the camps on weekends and in term holidays, watching his friends go. The chance to be normal. 

_ What am I angry about?  _ His father never paying attention to him. Not just in a “I wish I got more attention boohoo” way, but in a “you visited my mother twice which is practically unheard of, yet you still have no time for the children she bore you, even once your wife demanded she abandon one, even once the other died, asides turning her into a tree” way. Octavian whipping his two families into frenzies, so that Clarisse was liking foaming at the mouth, ready to obliterate entire cohorts by herself, while the people Jason grew up with readied themselves to bring about total annihilation.

_ What am I sad about?  _ No longer being  _ praetor.  _ He would miss having a specific role, a job to do that made him useful and invaluable, finally in the position everyone said he was born to assume. Knowing he would see his friends and family much less once he got started going to a school. Being directionless, asides the general idea of a mortal life. What would he do once he graduated? What  _ could  _ he do once he graduated? Would he forever be on the outside once he’d left, or would some of his friends leave too? 

Step three: be a badass.

Small sparks of static electricity jumped between his fingers, growing and brightening until he was encased in bolts of brilliant blue lightning arcing from limb to limb. The winds whipped about him, and somewhere, distantly, he felt his ears pop as the pressure mounted. 

He searched the horizon frantically for an expanse of unpopulated land so he could safely discharge the electricity, panic mounting until he spotted an empty plane of grass not too far away. He flew over, practicing tricks with the lightning as he went. He couldn’t seem to make it go away on its own, but currently he had no idea if that was something that would change over time, or if that was just some inconvenient physics thing that he couldn’t overcome. He could, however, get the lightning to jump down his javelin or sword, and form the bolts into a semi solid ball of pulsing energy, and if he concentrated hard enough, showers of sparks would scatter from it. 

When he reached the expanse of grass, he flew as high as he thought would work, then raised his sword. Gods, who had it been in that film Leo had shown him? Thor? The hot blond? He felt a lot like Thor, then, whipping his sword down in a great curve towards the ground, but he was too thrilled watching the electricity around him follow it and slam into the ground, scorching everything in a perfect circle for at least twenty feet, to care about looking stupid. 

He’d done it. Finally, after weeks and months of watching his powers splutter in and out whenever it was completely and utterly inconvenient, he’d done it, in a calm, controlled manner, without hurting anyone.

Slowly, he imagined himself letting go of the balloons and touching back down to earth. He laughed to himself. “See, dad? I don’t need you, so get fucked.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I have a real question that I would appreciate some input on: I’ve come to the realisation that this is going to be a lot longer than planned. We’re fairly close to the end of Blood of Olympus, in terms of how much I can write from Jason’s POV, but I really want to do a fair amount on Jason’s life post the books with him exploring school and slowburn getting with Nico, would people rather this be   
> A) super fucking long, like I’d say another ten chapters ish  
> B) in a sequel where this ends with a “two years later” epilogue thingy and then I do a sequel where I get to go into the relationship stuff   
> I have absolutely no particular feelings either way, I just want to write the slowburn lol, but I understand a fic that’s like thirty chapters and 150,000 words can be intimidating, so do y’all thing a sequel would be better?


	19. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason and Percy go scuba diving and meet the mother of storms/Percy’s sister, who was friends in low places

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Ace Week everyone!! I hope all y’all lovely ace spec folk are having a lovely week! Up this week we have Jason vs Kymopoleia. I haven’t changed much for this chapter, because most of it is pretty separate from the rest of the plot so far, but I couldn’t really skip this one if I was going to have Jason and the whole pontifex Maximus thingy next week, although that will obviously be altered. Anywho, enjoy :)

Jason woke from a dream about dying so that he could actually die, drowning with the rest of the crew. 

The ship was tilting so violently he had to climb the floor to get out of the sick bay, summoning the winds to help him once he was actually awake enough. The hill creaked. The engine groaned like a dying water buffalo. Cutting through the roar of the wind, the goddess Nike screamed from the stables: “YOU CAN DO BETTER, STORM! GIVE ME A HUNDRED AND TEN PERCENT!” 

Jason climbed the stairs to the middle deck, head spinning. The ship pitched to port, knocking him against the opposite wall. 

Hazel stumbled out of her cabin, hugging her stomach. “I  _ hate  _ the ocean!” 

Jason raised his head to commiserate with her, when the ship tilted to starboard and she staggered towards the bathroom, hand over her mouth. 

He fought his way to the stairs, stomach rolling once he finally made it out above deck. 

A wave the size of a skyscraper crashed over the foredeck, washing the front crossbows and half the port railing out to sea. The sails were ripped to shreds. Lightning flashed all around, hitting the sea like spotlights. Horizontal rain blasted Jason’s face. The clouds were so dark he honestly couldn’t tell if it was day or night. 

The crew were doing what they could, but realistically...that wasn’t much. 

Leo had lashed himself to the console with a bungee cord harness. That might have seemed like a good idea at the time of rigging it up, but the reality was that every time a wave hit he was washed out to see, then thrown back into his control board like a human ping pong ball. 

Annabeth and Piper were trying to save the rigging. Since Sparta, they’d become quite a duo, able to work together without even talking, which was just as well, seeing as how it was impossible to hear anything over the storm. 

Frank - at least Jason  _ assumed _ it was Frank - had turned into a gorilla. He was swinging upside down off the starboard rail, using his massive strength and flexible feet to hang upside down while he untangled the broken oars. From the looks of it, the crew were trying to get the ship airborne, but even if they managed takeoff, Jason was pretty sure the sky would be no less dangerous. 

Even Festus the figurehead was trying to help. He spewed fire at the rain, though that didn’t seem to discourage it any. 

Only Percy seemed to be having any luck. He stood by the centre mast, his arms extended like he was on a tightrope. Every time the ship tilted, he pushed in the opposite direction and the hill stabilised. He summoned giant fists of water from the ocean to slam into larger waves before they could reach the deck, so it looked like the sea was hitting itself repeatedly in the face. 

With the storm as bad as it was, Jason realised the ship would’ve already capsized or been smashed to bits if Percy wasn’t on the job. 

Jason staggered towards the mast until he made it to Percy’s side and grabbed his shoulder.

Percy nodded like ‘ _ sup.  _ He could stay dry if he concentrated, but clearly he had bigger things to worry about - his dark hair was plastered to his face, and his clothes were soaked and ripped. He shouted something in Jason’s ear, but Jason could only make out a few words: “THING...DOWN...STOP IT!” 

Percy pointed over the side. 

“Something is causing the storm?” Jason asked.

Percy grinned and tapped his ears. Clearly, he couldn’t hear a word. He made a gesture with his hand like diving overboard, then tapped Jason on the chest.

“You want me to go?” Jason felt kind of honoured. He and Percy hadn’t spent much time together, but after his mysterious realisation before Nico’s departure, he seemed more distant than he had been before. Obviously Jason could be being paranoid, or maybe Percy was just recovering from Tartarus, but it was a relief to know he was still trusted. 

“Happy to!” Jason shouted. “But I can’t breathe underwater!” 

Percy just shrugged, and mouthed something that Jason guessed meant  _ Sorry, can’t hear you.  _

Then Percy ran to the starboard rail, pushed another massive wave away from the ship and jumped overboard. 

Jason glanced at Piper and Annabeth. They both clung to the rigging, staring at him in shock. Piper’s expression said,  _ Are you out of your godsbedamned mind? _

He gave her an  _ okay  _ sign, partly to assure her that he would be fine (which wasn’t exactly a certainty), and partly to agree that he was, as she was implying, losing the plot (which  _ was  _ a certainty). 

He staggered to the railing, and looked up at the storm.

Winds raged. Clouds churned. Jason sensed an entire army of  _ venti  _ swirling above the boat, too angry and agitated to take physical form, but hungry for destruction. 

He raised his arm, and reached out with his mind. Just as he had at Augustus’s palace, he asked gently, but firmly for assistance, reminding them that he was just as much a child of the sky as them. Once one descended, others moved back. The storm above the ship lessened, if only by a fraction, as Jason was encased in his own personal tornado. Spinning like a corkscrew, he plunged into the waves. 

——

For some reason, he’d assumed that things would be calmer underwater. 

Not so much. 

Of course, that could have been in part due to his mode of travel. Riding a tornado to the bottom of the sea definitely gave him some unexpected turbulence, he dropped and swerved with no apparent logic. He recalled Percy lecturing Frank on the limitations of the human body under pressure during lunch the other day, and moved his jaw about until his ears popped painfully. 

Finally, he drifted to a stop next to Percy, who stood on a ledge overlooking a deeper abyss. 

“Hey,” Percy said.

Jason could hear him perfectly, though he wasn’t sure how. “What’s going on?” 

In his  _ ventus  _ cocoon, his own voice sounded like he was talking through a hoover. 

Percy pointed into the void. “Wait for it.”

Three seconds later, a shaft of green light swept through the darkness like a spotlight, then disappeared. 

“Something’s down there,” Percy said. “Stirring up this storm.” He turned and sized up Jason’s tornado. “Nice outfit. Can you hold it together if we go deeper?” 

“I have absolutely no idea how I’m doing this,” Jason replied with a vague gesture. 

“Okay,” Percy smiled teasingly, “well if you can avoid getting knocked unconscious, then we’ll be peachy keen.” 

Jason pulled a face. “Yeah, yeah, shut up, Jackson.” 

Percy grinned. “Let’s see what’s down there.”

They sank so deep that Jason couldn’t see anything bar Percy swimming next to him, illuminated in the dim light of their gold and bronze blades. 

Every so often the green searchlight shot upwards. Percy swan straight towards it. Jason’s  _ ventus _ crackled and roared, seemingly not liking their heading. The smell of ozone made him lightheaded, but he managed to put a little force into keeping his shell of air intact. 

At last, the darkness lessened below them. Soft white luminous patches, like smacks of jellyfish, floated before Jason’s eyes. As he approached the sea floor, he realised the patches were glowing fields of algae surrounding the ruins of a palace. Silt swirled through empty courtyards with abalone floors. Barnacle-covered Greek columns marched into the gloom. In the centre of the complex rose a citadel larger than the San Francisco City Hall, its walls encrusted with pearls, its domed golden roof cracked open like an egg. 

“Atlantis?” Jason asked.

“Nah, bro. That’s a myth.” 

“We’re two hundred feet underwater and I’m wrapped in a storm spirit,” Jason deadpanned. 

“No, like. A made-up myth. Y’know? Like the myth that sons of Zeus are better than sons of Poseidon?” 

Jason held his hands up in surrender. “Woah, I never said that! I’m related to Hercules, you don’t think I know we’re all horrible?” 

Percy nodded his agreement. “I mean, you’re pretty alright. And children of Pluto obviously take the cake. But yeah, other than you - and sometimes Thalia, when she’s on my side of an argument - your dad’s kids are dicks.”

“Hazel and Nico are definitely better than all of us.” Jason grinned. “And-“

“I feel like I’ve been here before,” Percy cut him off, expression suddenly closed off and dangerous. “This place is familiar.” 

Before Jason could respond, the green spotlight flashed directly below them, blinding him. 

He dropped like a stone, touching down on the smooth marble floor. When he managed to blink away the green smear in his vision, he saw that they weren’t alone.

Standing before them was a twenty foot tall woman in a flowing green dress, cinched at the waist with abalone shells. Her skin was as luminous a shade of white as the fields of algae. Her hair washed and flowed like jellyfish tendrils. 

Her face was beautiful but unearthly - the same kind of untouchable divinity as Juno and Pluto. Her eyes shone too brightly, her features were too delicate, her smile too cold - like she’d been studying human smiles, but hadn’t quite mastered the emotion that went along with them. 

Her hands rested on a disc of polished green metal about six feet in diameter, sitting on a bronze tripod. It reminded Jason of a steel drum he’d once seen a street performer play at the Embarcadero in San Francisco with - someone?

The woman turned the metal disc like a steering wheel. A shaft of green light shot upward, churning the water, and shaking the walls of the old palace. Shards from the domed ceiling broke and tumbled down in slow motion. For a moment, Jason lost himself in the how of it all - was the disc a source of power? A conduit? Did she need it to move the water, or did it just help conduct her powers, like Jupiter’s master bolt? Or was it just for the aesthetic, and something to do? 

After a nudge from Percy, he stared dazedly before remembering why they were there. “You’re making the storm.”

“Indeed I am.” The woman’s voice and as melodic - yet it had a strange resonance, as if it extended past the range of human hearing. Pressure built between Jason’s eyes. His sinuses felt like they might explode.

“Okay, I‘ll bite,” Percy said. “Who are you, and what do you want?” 

The woman turned towards him. “Why, I am your sister, Perseus Jackson. And I wanted to meet you before you die.”

——

Jason saw two options: fight or talks

Usually, and not just when faced with a creepy twenty foot tall lady with jellyfish hair, but in most scenarios, Jason liked to go with  _ fight _ .

Unfortunately, she called Percy  _ brother,  _ which made him hesitate. Siblings were complicated, so it probably wasn’t his place to jump in and start stabbing. 

“Percy, do you know this...um..lady?” 

Percy shook his head. “Doesn’t really look like my mom, so I’m guessing we’re related on the godly side? You’re a daughter of Poseidon, Miss..uh..?” 

The pale lady raked her fingernails against the metal disc, making a screeching sound like a tortured whale. The pair of them cringed. “No one knows me,” she sighed. “Why would I assume my  _ own brother  _ would recognise me? I am Kymopoleia!” 

Percy and Jason exchanged looks. Percy mouthed sounding out her name, before turning back to Kymopoleia.

“Right,” he said. “We’re gonna call you Kym. And you’d be a, hmm, Nereid, then? Minor goddess?” 

“ _ Minor?” _

“By which,” Jason said quickly, hoping whatever words coming out of his mouth would help, and not make this whole thing worse. “He means under the drinking age! Because obviously you’re so young and bam beautiful!”

Percy flashed him a look:  _ Nice save.  _

The goddess turned her full attention to Jason. She pointed her index finger and traced his outline in the water. Jason could feel his air spirit rippling around him, as if it was being tickled. 

“Jason Grace,” said the goddess. “Son of Jupiter.”

“Yeah. I'm a friend of Percy’s.” 

Kym’s eyes narrowed. “So it's true.. these times make for strange friends and unexpected enemies. The Romans never worshipped me. To them I was a nameless fear - a sign of Neptune’s greatest wrath. They never worshipped Kymopoleia, the goddess of violent sea storms!” 

She spun her disc. Another beam of green light flashed upward, churning the water and making the ruins rumble. 

“Uh, yeah,” Percy said. “The Romans aren’t big on navies. They had, like, one rowboat. Which i sank. Speaking of violent storms, you’re doing a first-rate job upstairs.”

“Thank you,” said Kym.

“Thing is, our ship is caught in it, and it’s kind of being ripped apart. I’m sure you didn’t mean to-“

“Oh, yes I did.”

“You did,” Percy grimaced. “Well… that sucks. I don’t suppose you’d cut it out, then, if we asked nicely?” 

“No,” the goddess agreed. “Even now, the ship is close to sinking. I’m rather amazed it’s held together this long. Excellent workmanship. I’d tell you to pass it on to that fiery son of Hephaestus, but, well… he won’t be alive long enough to receive it.”

Sparks flew from Jason’s arms into the tornado. He thought about the rest of the crew frantically trying to keep the ship in one piece. By coming down here, he and Percy had left the others defenceless. They had to act soon. 

Besides, Jason’s air was getting stale. He wasn’t sure if it was possible to use up a  _ ventus  _ by inhaling it, but, if he was going to have to fight, he’d rather take on Kym before he ran out of oxygen. 

The thing was.. well.. fighting a goddess on her home court wouldn’t be easy. Even if they managed to take her down, there was no guarantee the storm would stop. 

“So...Kym..” he said. “What could we do to make you change your mind and let our ship go?” 

Kym gave him that creepy,  _ not right  _ smile. “Son of Jupiter, do you know where you are?” 

Jason was tempted to answer  _ underwater _ . Fortunately, his brain kicked into gear before he could get himself killed. “You mean these ruins? An ancient palace?” 

“Indeed,” Kym said. “The original palace of my father, Poseidon.”

Percy snapped his fingers, which sounded like a small explosion. “That’s why this place is familiar. Dad’s new crib in the Atlantic is kind of like this.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Kym sniffed delicately. “I am never invited to see my parents. I can only wander the ruins of their  _ old  _ domains. They find my presence..disruptive.”

She spun her wheel again. The entire back wall of the building collapsed, sending a cloud of silt and algae through the chamber. Fortunately, the  _ ventus  _ acted like a fan, blowing the debris out of Jason’s face. 

“Disruptive?” Jason said. “You?” 

“My father does not welcome me in his court,” Kym said. “He restricts my powers. This storm above? I haven’t had this much fun in centuries, and yet it is only a small  _ taste  _ of what I can do!”

“A little goes a long way,” Percy said. “Anyways, to Jason’s question about changing your mind-“

“My father even married me off,” she continued, “without my permission. He gifted me to Briares, a Hundred-Handed One, like a trophy, as a reward for supporting the gods in the war with Kronos aeons ago.”

Percy’s face brightened. “Hey, I  _ know  _ Briares. He’s a friend of mine! I freed him from Alcatraz.”

“Yes. I know.” Kym’s eyes glinted coldly in the gloom. “I  _ hate  _ my husband. I was not  _ at all  _ pleased to have him back.”

“Oh. So… is Briares around?” Percy asked hopefully. 

Kym’s laugh sounded like dolphin chatter. “He’s off at Mount Olympus in New York, shoring up the Gods’ defences. Not that it will matter. My point, dear brother, is that Poseidon has never treated me fairly. I like to come here, to his old palace, because it pleases me to see his works in ruins. Someday, his  _ new  _ palace will look like this one, and the seas will range unchecked.”

Percy looked at Jason. “This is the part where she tells us she’s working for Gaia.”

“Oh, totally,” Jason agreed. “And the Earth Mother promised her a better deal once the gods are destroyed, blah, blah, blah.” He turned to Kym. “You understand that Gaia won’t keep her promises, right? She’s using you, just like she’s using the giants.” 

“I am touched by your concern,” said the goddess. “The Olympian gods, on the other hand, have  _ never  _ used me, eh?” 

Percy spread his hands. “At least the Olympians are trying. After the last Titan war, they started paying more attention to the other gods. A lot of them have cabins now at Camp Half-Blood: Hecate, Hades, Hebe, Hypnos… uh, and probably some that don’t begin with H, good we give them offerings at every meal, cool banners, special recognition at the end-of-summer programme-“ 

“And do  _ I  _ get such offerings?” Kym asked.

“Well, uh..no. But, we didn’t know you existed, so-“

“Then save your words, brother.” Kym’s jellyfish-tentacle hair floated towards him, as if anxious to paralyse new prey. 

“I have heard so much about the great Percy Jackson: the giants are quite obsessed with capturing you. I must say… I don’t see what the fuss is about.”

“Thanks, sis. But if you’re going to try and kill me, I gotta warn you it’s been tried before. I’ve faced a lot of goddesses recently - Nike, Akhlys, even Nyx herself. Compared to them, you’re not scaring me. Also, you laugh like a dolphin.”

Kym’s delicate nostrils flared. Jason sent a quick prayer to Pluto asking for protection from Nico, and got his sword ready. 

“Oh I won’t kill you,” Kym said. “My part of the bargain was simply to get your attention. Someone else is here, though, who very much wants to kill you.” 

Above them, at the edge of the broken roof, a dark shale appeared - a figure even taller than Kymopoleia. 

“The son of Neptune,” boomed a deep voice.

The giant floated down. Clouds of dark viscous fluid - poison, perhaps - curled from his blue skin. His green breastplate was fashioned to resemble a cluster of open hungry mouths. In his hands were the weapon of a  _ retiarius -  _ a trident and a weighted net. 

Jason had never met this particular giant, but he’d heard stories. “Polybotes,” he said, “the anti-Neptune.”

The giant shook his dreadlocks. A dozen serpents swam free - each one like green with a frilled crown around its head.  _ Basilisks.  _

“Indeed, son of Rome,” the giant said. “But, if you’ll excuse me, my immediate business is with Perseus Jackson. I tracked him all the way across Tartarus. Now, here in his father’s ruins, I mean to crush him once and for all.”

——

Jason hates basilisks. 

The little scum-suckers loved to burrow under the temples in New Rome. Some of Jason’s earliest nightmares had occurred after days of clearing out their nests - seven year old him had been sure that disturbing them would lead to some kind of basilisk uprising - and he’d never really shook the dislike

A basilisk didn’t look like much - just an arm’s length serpent with yellow eyes and a white drill collar - but they moved fast, and killed anything they touched. Jason had never faced more than two at a time. Now a dozen were swimming around the giant’s legs. The only good thing: underwater, the bastards wouldn’t be able to breathe fire, but that wouldn’t make them any less deadly. 

Two of the snakes shot towards Percy. He sliced them in half, only for the other ten to descend upon him, swirling around just out of blade’s reach. They writhed back and forth in a hypnotic pattern, waiting for an opening. One bite, one touch, was all it would take.”

“Hey!” Jason yelled. “How about some love over here!” 

The snakes ignored him. 

So did the giant, who stood back and watched with a smug smile, apparently happy for his pets to do the killing.

“Kymopoleia,” Jason tried his best not to butcher her name. “You have to stop this.”

She regarded him with her glowering white eyes. “Why would I do that? The Earth Mother has promised me unlimited power. Could you make me a better offer?” 

_ A better offer…  _

He sensed the possibility of an opening - room to negotiate. But what did he have that a storm goddess would want?

“Hey basilisks!” He tried again. 

Still no reaction. He could charge in and help, but even together he and Percy couldn’t possibly fight off ten basilisks at once. He needed a better solution.

He glanced up. A thunderstorm raged above, but they were hundreds of feet down. He couldn’t possibly summon lightning at the bottom of the sea, could he? Well, possibly, but even if he could, water conducted electricity a little too well. Percy could be dead in seconds. 

He couldn’t think of a better option. He thought of the other day, in Sparta, allowed his panic to flow through him, every single fear about the ocean, all the anxiety about being so far out of his element, and thrust his sword forward. Immediately, the blade glowed white-hot. Blue electricity arced down his arms and onto the blade, lightning the area up neon yellow as it cooled upon meeting the water. It jumped out from the tip of his sword in ten separate tendrils zapping the basilisks.

Their eyes went dark. Their frills disintegrated. All ten serpents turned belly-up and floated dead in the water. 

“Next time,” Jason said, “ _ look  _ at me when I’m talking to you.”

Polybotes’ smile curdled. “Are you so eager to die, Roman?” 

Percy raised his sword. He hurled himself at the giant, but Polybotes swept his hand through the water, leaving an arc of black oily poison. Percy charged straight into it faster than Jason could yell  _ Dude, what are you thinking?  _

Percy dropped Riptide. He gasped, clawing at his throat. The giant threw his weighted net and Percy collapsed to the floor, hopelessly entangled as the poison thickened around him. 

“Let him go!” Jason’s voice cracked with paix. 

The giant chuckled. “Don’t worry, son of Jupiter. Your friend will take a  _ long  _ time to die. After all the trouble he’s caused me, I wouldn’t dream of killing him quickly.” 

Noxious clouds expanded around the giant, filling the ruins like thick cigar smoked Jason scrambled backwards, not fast enough, but his  _ ventus  _ proved to be a pretty useful filter. As the poison engulfed him, the miniature tornado spun faster, repelling the clouded Kymopoleia wrinkled her nose and waved away the darkness, but otherwise it didn’t seem to affect her. 

Percy writhed in the net, his face turning green. Jason charged to help him, but the giant blocked him with his huge trident. 

“Oh I can’t let you ruin my fun,” Polybotes chided. “The poison will kill him eventually, but first must come the paralysis and hours of excruciating pain. I want him to have the full experience.” He gestured dramatically to Percy, then turned back to glower at Jason. “Let him watch as I destroy you, Jason Grace.” 

Polybotes advanced slowly, giving Jason ample time to contemplate the three story tower of armour and muscle bearing down on him. He dodged the trident and, using his  _ ventus  _ to shoot forward, jabbed his sword into the giant’s reptilian leg. Polybotes roared and stumbled, golden ichor pluming from the wound. 

“Kym!” Jason yelled. “Is this really what you want?” 

The storm goddess looked rather bored, idly spinning her metal disc. “Unlimited power? Why not?” 

“But is it any fun?” Jason asked desperately. “So you destroy our ship. You destroy every coastline in the world. Once Gaia wipes out human civilisation? Who’s left to fear you? Sure you can wreak havoc on the world, and tear anything and everything to bit, but who will worship you? The giants you’re working for? Will they bow down to you? Of course not. You’ll just be here, as always, spinning your storms while they forget about you. You’ll still be unknown.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m bored and on holiday this week, so tell me about yourselves in the comments if you’d like :) I’m 17, ace, an aspiring forensic pathologist, and I think sharks are neat 🦈
> 
> (Also please point out grammatical/spelling faults bc it’s late and I haven’t checked this much, and feel free to scream at me on tumblr with headcanons/fic ideas/rants about whatever you’d like, my username is the same as this one :)))


	20. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason branches out into marketing campaigns and merchandising, and learns to joke about his trauma like all good gen Z kids should.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Monday (or technically Tuesday ig) folks! There will be a second chapter tonight but not for an hour or so, because I had a migraine and that pushed writing back by a wee bit. I hope y’all enjoy, this doesn’t stray massively from the og chapter, although Jason and Percy have a helpful and healthy conversation about suicidal ideation instead of Percy baring his soul and Jason saying the equivalent of Oh, worm, because despite how funny that is objectively, it seems kinda sus

Sometimes, Jason had fun moments where he realised he may have likely fucked up, at least a little bit. Now, floating a few feet above the sea floor in a personal bubble made of a swirling  _ ventus  _ that seemed to be growing impatient as he attempted to sway a wrathful storm goddess over to his side in front of a thirty foot giant with a trident who was poisoning his friend, he was realising it may be one of those times. 

He only just snapped back to attention from considering his likely doom as Polybotes swung towards Jason fast enough to send basilisks flying from his hair. “You are a pest, son of Jupiter. You will be crushed!” 

Jason thought about summoning more lightning, but he was beginning to panic about Percy, who hadn’t stopped writhing and choking, and he wasn’t certain he could avoid frying his friend. He managed to avoid the prongs of the trident, but Polybotes swung the other end around and smacked him in the chest.

Jason reeled back, stunned and in pain. The giant came in for the kill, but just before the trident would have perforated him, his  _ ventus _ acted on its own. It spiralled sideways, whisking Jason thirty feet across the courtyard.

_ Thanks, buddy.  _ Jason thought.  _ I owe you some air freshener.  _

Whether the  _ ventus  _ liked that idea, Jason couldn’t tell.

“Actually, Jason Grace,” Kym said, studying her fingernails, “now that you mention it, I  _ do  _ enjoy being feared by mortals. I am not feared enough.” 

“I can help with that!” Jason dodged another swipe of the trident, mind working overtime to pay attention to his situation  _ and  _ build a convincing argument for Kym. He extended his  _ gladius  _ into a javelin and thrust it into Polybotes’ eye.

“AUGH!” The giant staggered back, grabbing a crumbling column to hold himself up. 

Percy writhed in the net, but his movements were getting sluggish - Jason needed to hurry. He had to get Percy to the sickbay, but if he couldn’t get Kym to stop, they would be no sickbay to return him to. 

He flew to Kym’s side. “You know, the gods depend on mortals. The more we honour you, the powerful you get.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Kym sniffed. “I’ve never been honoured!” 

She ignored Polybotes, who was now stampeding around her, trying to swat Jason out of his whirlwind. Jason did his best to keep the goddess between them.

“I can change that,” he promised. “Two of my closest friends are the current  _ praetors _ of New Rome. That boy you’re choking? A leader of Camp Half Blood, and his girlfriend is the Architect of Olympus. I will  _ personally  _ arrange a shrine for you on Temple Hill. Your first  _ ever  _ Roman shrine! I’ll raise one at Camp Half-Blood as well, right on the shore of Long Island Sound, both designed by the Architect who rebuilt Olympus. Imagine, being honoured-“

“And feared.”

“-and feared by both Greeks and Romans. You’ll be famous! Is Gaia offering you fame-“

“STOP TALKING!” Polybotes swung his trident like a baseball bat. 

Jason ducked. Kym did not. The giant slammed her in the ribcage so hard that strands of her jellyfish hair came loose, and drifted through the poisonous water. 

’ eyes widened. “I’m sorry, Kympoleia. You shouldn’t have been in the way!” 

“IN THE WAY?” The goddess straighted. “I am  _ in the way?”  _

“You heard him,” Jason encouraged. “You’re nothing but a tool for the giants. They’ll cast you aside as soon as they’re through destroying the mortals. Then no demigods, no shrines, no fear, no respect.”

“LIES!” Polybotes tried to stab him, but Jason hid in the goddess’ dress. “Kymopoleia, when Gaia rules, you will rage and storm without restraint!” 

“Will there be mortals to terrorise?” Kym asked.

“Well… no.”

“Ships to destroy? Demigods to cower in awe?”

“Um…”

“Help me,” Jason urged. “Together, a goddess and a demigod can kill a giant.”

“No!” Polybotes suddenly looked very nervous. “No, that’s a terrible idea. Gaia will be most displeased!” 

“ _ If  _ Gaia wakes,” Jason said. “The mighty Kymopoleia can make sure that never happens. Then all demigods will honour you  _ big-time.” _

“Will they cower?” Kym asked.

“Tons of cowering! Plus your name in the summer programme. A custom designed banner. A cabin at Camp Half-Blood. Two shrines. I’ll even throw in a Kymopoleia action figure! The  _ praetor  _ and  _ primus pilus  _ of New Rome both love a mythological card game - we’ll make you a custom piece!” 

“No!” Polybotes wailed. “Not merchandising rights!” 

Kymopleia turned on the giant. “I’m afraid the demigod has offered a better deal than Gaia.”

“Unacceptable!” The giant bellowed. “You cannot trust this vile Roman!” 

“If I don’t honour the bargain,” Jason added helpfully, “Kym can always kill me, but with Gaia, she has no guarantee at all.”

“That,” Kym said, “is difficult to argue with.”

As Polybotes struggled to answer, Jason charged forward and stabbed his javelin into the giant’s gut. 

Kym lifted her bronze disc from its pedestal. “Say goodbye, Polybotes.”

She spun the disc at the giant’s neck. The rim sliced clean through Polybotes’ neck, showering basilisks as his head was cut off neatly. 

——

“Poison is a nasty habit.” Kymopoleia waved her hand and the murky clouds dissipated. “Secondhand poison can kill a person, you know.”

Jason wasn’t too fond of firsthand poison either, but he decided not to mention that. He cut Percy out of the net and propped him against the temple wall, enveloping him in the airy shell of the  _ ventus.  _ The oxygen was getting thin, but Jason hoped it might help expel the poison from his friend’s lungs. 

It seemed to work. Percy doubled over and began to retch. “Ugh. Thanks.”

Jason exhaled with relief. “You had me worried there, bro.”

Percy blinked, cross-eyed. “I’m still a little fuzzy. But did you… promise Kym an action figure?” 

The goddess loomed over them. “Indeed he did. And I expect him to deliver.”

“I will,” Jason said. “I gotta go to school first, maybe college, figure out how best to do it, but I’m going to make sure  _ all  _ the gods get recognised.” He put a hand on Percy’s shoulder. “My friend here started that process last summer. He made the Olympians promise to pay you guys more attention.”

Kym sniffed. “We all know how much an Olympian promise is worth.”

“Which is why I’m going to finish the job.” Jason didn’t know where these words were coming from, but the idea felt absolutely right. “This is the second war where victory depends on you, and the second time we risk defeat because of how you’ve been disserviced. I’ll make sure none of the gods are forgotten at either camp. I’ll make a team, Annabeth, Nico, Reyna, Frank, Leo. Whoever I need on my side, and I’ll get a degree in marketing or Ancient Civilisations. But I’m going to do this.” 

Percy whistled lowly. “You’re talking about dozens of gods.” 

“Hundreds,” Kym corrected.

“Exactly,” Jason said. “How much more sure of victory could we be, if even only all of Jupiter’s children rode into battle with us? Nevermind every other god or goddess who’s loyalty is on the fence, or even promised to Gaia, because of how little respect they get? If it takes me years - decades- I don’t care. I don’t want another demigod to end up in my place, bargaining for their life with a goddess who only needed a little respect.”

Kym stroked her jellyfish hair. “You may be my favourite demigod yet, Jason Grace.” She regarded Percy. “Though I am still sorry I won’t see you die.”

“Y’know, I get that comment a lot more than you’d think,” Percy said. “Now, about our ship-”

“Still in one piece,” said the goddess. “Though not in very good shape, you should still be able to make it to Delos.”

“Thank you,” Jason said. 

“Yeah,” Percy agreed. “And, really, your husband Briares is a good dude. You should give him a chance.”

The goddess raised her bronze disc. “I would advise that you don’t push your luck, brother. I only need your friend alive. Briares has fifty faces; all of them are ugly. He’s got a hundred hands, and yet he contributes nothing to the house.” 

“Okay,” Percy relented. “Not pushing my luck.”

Kym turned over the disc, revealing straps on the bottom like a shield. She slipped it over her shoulders, and Jason could’ve sworn he heard Percy whisper something that sounded like  _ Captain America,  _ but he didn’t have a clue what that meant. 

“I will be watching your progress,” Kym said. “Polybotes was not boasting when he warned thay your blood would wake the Earth Mother, the giants are very confident of this.”

“My blood… like… personally?” Percy asked, looking grossed out. 

Kym’s smile was even creepier than usual. “I am not an Oracle. But I heard what the seer Phinrad told you in the city of Portland. You will face a sacrifice that you may not be able to make, and it will cost you the world. You have yet to face your fatal flaw, my brother. Look around. All works of god and men eventually turn to ruins. Would it not be easier to flee into the depths with thay girlfriend if yours?”

Percy put his hand on Jason’s shoulder and struggled to his feet. “Juno offered me a choice like that, way back, when I found Camp Jupiter. I’ll give you the same answer as I gave her: I don’t run when my friends need me.”

Kym turned up her palms. “And there is your flaw: being unable to step away. I will retreat to the depths and watch this battle unfold. You should know that just as before, when our father faced Oceanus, the forces of the ocean are also at war. Your friend Hazel Levesque made quite an impression on the met people and their mentors, Aphros and Bythos.” 

“The fish pony dudes,” Percy muttered. “They didn’t want to meet me.”

“Even now, they wage war for your sake,” Kym admonished, “they are trying to keep Gaia’s allies away from Long Island. Whether or not they will survive… that remains to be seen. As for you, Jason Grace, your path will be no easier than your friend’s . You will be tricked. You will face unbearable sorrow.” 

Jason tried to stop himself sparking. He wasn’t sure Percy’s heart could take the shock, and he wasn’t willing to test that theory. “Kym, you said you’re not an Oracle? You should go for the job, you’re definitely depressing enough.” 

The goddess laughed, still eerily reminiscent of dolphins. “You amuse me, son of Jupiter. I hope you live to defeat Gaia.”

“Thanks?” Jason said. “Uh, I think. Any pointers on defeating a goddess who can’t be defeated?” 

Kymopoleia tilted her head. “Oh, but you already know the answer. You are a child of the sky, with storms in your blood, a primordial god has been defeated once before. You know of whom I speak.”

Jason’s insides started swirling faster than the  _ ventus. _ “Ouranos, the first god of the sky. But that means-”

“Yes.” Kym’s alien features took on an expression that almost resembled sympathy, let us hope it does not come to that. If Gaia  _ does  _ wake? Well… your task will not be easy. But, if you win, remember your promise, Pontifex.” 

Jason took a moment to process her words. “I’m not a priest.”

Kym’s white eyes gleamed in the dim light. “No? Did you not promise to work at the behest of the gods, and deliver news of us to the people? Is that not the job of a priest?” 

“Uh…” Jason blinked slowly. “I’m pretty sure it’s like... heresy... to declare myself Pontifex. Don’t I need a Senate hearing or something?” 

“You did not declare yourself Pontifex, son of Jupiter.” Jason was pretty sure Kym would be rolling her eyes if they did that. “I did. Ask your Senate if they are willing to go against my judgement by all means, but you are Pontifex, even if not in name.” 

“Oh.” Jason glanced at Percy got backup, but Percy was inspecting his sword with intense focus. “Thanks? I’ll do my best.” 

Kym nodded soberly. “Farewell then,” she said. “And may the Fates smile upon you…” Uncertainty flashed across her face. “Assuming, that is, that the Fates survive.” 

——

They needed to leave.

Jason was running out of air, and everyone on the  _ Argo II  _ would be worried about them, and Percy needed medical attention, stat.

But as much as Percy needed to get above the surface, he was still too woozy from the poison to make that journey, so they sat on the edge of the ruined golden dome for a few minutes to let Percy catch his breath… or catch his water… well, no, fish still  _ breathe,  _ even if they breathe water not air-

“-man,” Percy said. “You saved my life.”

Jason nodded awkwardly, doing his best to look like he’d been paying attention. Hopefully Percy hadn’t said too much before he’d cottoned on. “Uh, no problem, bro, that’s what we do for our friends.”

“But, uh, the Jupiter guy saving the Poseidon guy at the bottom of the ocean… maybe we can keep the details on the DL? I will literally never hear the end of it from Hazel and Frank if they find out this is the second time I’ve been saved from drowning by another Big Three kid.” 

Jason mouthed  _ DL  _ to himself, then shook it off and nodded. “Sure, man, you got it. Pretty sure if I went up there and started telling Leo I saved you from drowning he’d call me delusional anyways. How you feeling, though?” 

“Better. I… I have to admit, when I was choking on that poison, I kept thinking about Akhlys, the misery goddess in Tartarus. I almost destroyed her with poison.” Percy shivered. “It felt  _ good _ , but in a bad way. That’s what Nico meant, when he was talking about Tartarus. It opens doors you never would’ve thought of opening, but they’re not good doors. If Annabeth hadn’t stopped me-“

“But she did,” Jason said gently. “That’s another thing friends do for each other.”

“Yeah… Thing is though, as I was choking just now, I kept thinking: this is payback for Akhlys. The Fates are letting me for the same way I tried to kill that goddess. And… honestly, a part of me felt like I deserved it. That’s why I didn’t try control Polybotes’ poison and move it away from me. That probably sounds crazy.” 

Jason shook his head, “No, I think I get it.”

Percy studied his face, so he expanded. “We have these crazy stupid powers, right? And you grew up not knowing about them, so every time you learn something new, it’s this big shock, but the gods aren’t  _ good.  _ They’re not  _ bad  _ either, but they’re not human enough to ascribe morals too. When we experience those difference aspects though, we suddenly have to place give mortal value on something that isn’t  _ mortal,  _ and most of the kids around us don’t get that. Your dad brings life, but he also brings death, and that sits heavy.” 

Percy nodded slowly. “Annabeth doesn’t get it,” he acknowledged, “and part of me doesn’t want her to. Y’know, I’d hate it if she was up all night, grappling with some part of herself - I hate knowing that Nico has been doing this since he was twelve. But I don’t know what to do. Should I shut that door as firmly as possible, or do I owe it to the people around me to open it carefully and control it?”

Jason shrugged and knocked his shoulder against Percy’s. “Only you can make that decision. But next time, you might not be the one writing around, choking on poison, you might be the one watching. And believe you me, I would’ve given a lot to have been able to control it and save you without the whole rigmarole of taking on priesthood. Nico has saved a lot of people using powers people are scared of him for having. He’s saved a lot of people doing things that people call evil or immoral. But his powers aren’t mortal, so he doesn’t judge them by mortal standards. You could learn something from that.”

“We could all learn something from that kid,” Percy snorted. “Bastard‘ll be working for NASA before I get my GED, the way he’s going.” 

Jason paused. “Okay, like… not to ruin the moment. But you gotta remember dude, I’ve been an army brat since I was four in a camp that still makes decisions based on prophecies carved into the floor of a temple. I have no idea what the fuck NASA is.” 

“Damn, Grace.” Percy laughed. “Way to make Camp Jupiter sound like crazytown. NASA is like, space, Y’know? After we won the space race, put man on the moon, they kind of became in charge of that whole jam.” 

Jason felt his eyes bug out. “Put man on  _ where?”  _

“Dude… no way you don’t know about that? Neil Armstrong? Buzz Aldrin? This happened over half a century ago buddy, you got no excuse for not knowing this.” 

Jason shook his head, “I’m pretty sure someone would’ve told me if there were people on the moon. Why the fuck are there people on the moon? Does Diana know about this? What the  _ fuck?”  _

“Okay, as amusing as this is,” Percy grabbed his arm, “we have very little oxygen in this nice little bubble, and both Annabeth and Leo likely know eons more about this than I do. Plus, I wanted to ask you about what Kym meant about defeating Gaia? Ouranos?” 

Jason stared at the silt swirling between the columns of the old palace, trying to get his thoughts into order long enough to drag his focus away from the moon, which apparently, people had been  _ on.  _ The fucking  _ moon!  _

Percy poked his side gently. “You there, man?” 

He jolted. “Oh shit. Um. Right. Ouranos… uh… yeah. The Titans defeated him by calling him down to earth. They got him away from his home territory, ambushed him, held him down and cut him up.”

Percy looked his nausea was coming back. “Right. And we’re supposed to pull this off with Gaia… how, exactly?” 

Jason recalled a line from the prophecy:  _ To storm or fire the world must fall.  _ He had an idea what that meant now… but, if he was right, Percy wouldn’t be able to help. In fact, he might unintentionally make things harder. 

_ I don’t run when my friends need me,  _ Percy had said. 

_ And there is your flaw,  _ Kym had warned,  _ being unable to step away. _

Today was the 27th of July, in five days, Jason would know if he was right.

“Let’s get to Delos first,” he said. “Apollo and Artemis might have some advice.”

Percy nodded, though he didn’t seem satisfied with the answer. “Why did Kym call you a  _ Pontiac _ ?” 

Jason’s laugh literally cleared the air. “ _ Pontifex.  _ It means priest.”

“Oh.” Percy frowned. “Still sounds kind of like a car. “The new Pontifex XLS. Comes with more helpful minor gods and electrifying acceleration.”” He grinned at Jason until the pun clicked, and cackled when he groaned. 

“Anyways,” Percy nudged him, “will you have to wear a collar? Bless people? Dude that would be so funny can you imagine absolving people of their sins as a seventeen year old? “By the power vested in me, Jason Grace, I forgive you. Now excuse me while I go lust over my girlfriend.”

Jason tried to force out a laugh, but he could tell Percy wasn’t buying it. “Uh. Me and Piper broke up. And I don’t do that.” 

“I didn’t mean to call you a letch, bro. I know you’re a good guy.” Percy offered his fist in apology. “And I’m sorry to hear about you and Piper. You guys seemed good together.”

“Nah, too much of it was of Hera’s creation. And I’m not offended,” Jason reassured him, tapping his knuckles against Percy’s. “I didn’t think that was what you meant. I just..don’t do that. Leo calls it “asexual”.” 

“Ohh,” Percy nodded. “Shit bro, you should’a punched me, god knows Will would’ve had my head for assuming.” 

Jason shrugged. “It’s fine. I just. I’m trying to convince myself it’s not a big deal, so. There we go.” 

“Thanks for telling me, man. It’s totally not a big deal, but I get that it might’ve been a big deal to tell me.” Percy ruffled his hair, the same way Jason had seen him do to Nico. “Now tell me what this  _ pontifex  _ business is.”

“Okay, so Romans used to have this thing called a  _ Pontifex Maximus,  _ right? That was the guy who oversaw all the proper sacrifices and whatnot, to make sure none of the gods got mad. Which is basically what I offered to do. But the  _ pontifex  _ is super important, so you can’t just like, declare that you’re that special, you have to get chosen, really. Kym just kind of… sped that process up, I guess.”

“So you meant it?” Percy asked. “You’re really going to try building shrines for all the minor gods?”

Jason shrugged. “I’m taking a few years out first. I wanna go to high school. College, maybe. I want to live in the mortal world for a while until I’ve figured out who I am without titles and battles and stuff. But after that? I can imagine worse futures for myself. What you did last year on Olympus, turning down immortality and asking the gods to play nice instead - that was noble, man. We gotta capitalise on that, and keep pushing.” 

Percy grunted. “Believe me, some days I regret the choice.  _ Oh, you want to turn down our offer? Okay, fine! ZAP! Lose your memory! Go to Tartarus!”  _

“You did what a hero should do. I admire you for that. If we survive, and if I can survive the mortal world, I wanna continue that work. Who knows? If the gods get along better, maybe we can stop more of these wars from breaking out, and if not, the minor gods have been make or break. They deserve recognition.” 

“That would most definitely be good,” Percy agreed. “You know, you look different…  _ better  _ different. I know I’ve only been back for a week or so, but you look older. Less straight laced than when we first met.”

Jason snorted. “Thanks, it’s the trauma. It ages you.” 

“Dude!” Percy laughed, clearly shocked. “I can’t believe Leo and Nico are missing this, they’d be so proud of you.”

“I guess you’ll have to be proud of me for them,” Jason quipped and stood up. “Now, ready to go?” 

Percy grabbed his arm. “Let’s blow this popsicle joint.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y’all enjoyed! Over the next five weeks I will be doing a jatp baking fic, so if you’ve seen Julie and the phantoms (and if you haven’t, I highly recommend it) which will be published every Friday. This fic should be updated as normal bar anything pressing in my personal life. 
> 
> Some more fun facts about me: I got my first university offer this week, I have chronic pain and migraines which is why my updating schedule is sometimes fucky, and my favorite drink is the blue lagoon, which tastes like alcoholic Fanta, but is bright blue which is just p cool


	21. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason finally has *the talk* with Piper, who obviously takes it like a champ, and then proceeds to attack Leo with threats of love anf affection.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So..uh... this took longer than expected? I kind of fell asleep halfway through and then I had a chem lesson and then I panicked about all the work I’d not done which turned out to be very little, but you get the picture. On offer today: I actually had to do proper writing for the first 2500 or so words of this, so it it feels different that’s why. If Jason is anything like me, which in this fic he obviously is because self projection, he would probably start feeling guilty because he hasn’t told piper, so here he is, telling Piper. Enjoy

Jason was pretty sure Leo was on the verge of a complete nervous breakdown.

It was, in Leo’s defence, fairly understandable. Their journey through the Aegean Sea after Jason and Percy’s encounter with Kym had been… eventful, to say the least. They’d limped their way to the island of Mykonos over the course of three days, too damaged to fly, and far too slow to outrun monsters. They’d fought hungry sea serpents almost hourly, and they attracted schools of curious fish that brought along predators who found a group of idiot demigods far more interesting than the sardines they’d been following. At one point, they got stuck on a rock, and there’d been nothing for it asides he and Percy getting out and pushing. 

Every time Leo returned from the engine room, he looked closer and closer to dissolving into tears, and Jason had taken to dragging Leo with him when he went to bed, forcing the other boy to catch some sleep instead of staring forlornly at whatever broken piece of machinery he’d happened to stumble across for hours on end. 

By the time they reached Mykonos, Leo had almost managed to get the ship back in shape, which he and Jason agreed was pretty much a signal for everything to go wrong again, but he’d also covered the entire history of NASA and manned space exploration, so Jason figured the time was pretty well spent, even if the ship did end up battered to pieces again.

Percy and Annabeth went ahead to scout, and upon their return, Hazel, Frank and Leo set off on their own mini-mission to Delos, to speak to Artemis and Apollo. 

Jason figured the few hours they’d have to sit around and wait would be a good time to talk to Piper. Although he knew objectively that it was his decision who he shared with, and that Piper probably wouldn’t mind if he told the whole world before he was ready to tell her, Jason was beginning to feel the guilt claw it’s way up his spine. He’d told  _ Percy  _ before he’d told her. It wasn’t that Percy wasn’t his friend, or particularly untrustworthy, it was more that Jason had only actually known Percy for a month, maybe a month and a half, not taking into account how little of that time he’d actually spent talking to the guy, 

Still, telling someone who’s opinion didn’t matter too much had helped. He’d told Nico and Leo, two of the most important people, and now he’d told Percy, who had the potential to be an important person, but who wasn’t just yet. Now he could tell Piper, who definitely was an important person. Like Leo had said, if anyone was going to understand, it would be Piper. Even without her mom being who she was, Piper was one of the nicest and most world-wise people Jason knew. Thousands of miles from the only other asexual person he was aware of, Piper was the next in line in the list of people who could help him figure this shit out.

Now for the difficult part: turning all his consideration and meticulous planning into the courage required to actually have the conversation. 

——

He found Piper polishing katropis on the foredeck, carefully avoiding looking directly into the blade. Jason knew she’d been wary of it recently, and that the burden of the visions it brought her were beginning to weigh down. He and Leo had tried their best to assuage her fears and lighten her spirits, but it was hard when she carried a prophetic knife of doom ‘n’ gloom with her everywhere she went. 

“Hey, uh, Pipes?” He rapped his knuckles against the mast she was sat near. “You got a minute?” 

Piper looked up. “Hm? Yeah, of course, Jace. What’s up? You need more stories?”

He laughed and sat down next to her. “Well, you know I’d never say no, if you’ve got one?” Hopefully he could get her talking long enough for his brain to remember that she was one of his best friends and he could tell her anything. “Oh! Can you tell me about Captain America? Percy mentioned it the other day, whilst we were with Kym, and I kept forgetting to ask Leo.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Captain America? Well, I think it would be better to show you the comics once we’re back home, but he’s a comic book hero. He was this scrappy little kid from Brooklyn, always sick, but always trying to fight for the little guy. 

“Then when World War II hits, he tries to join the army, because he wants to help his country, and he keeps getting turned down. Eventually this doctor from Germany decides he’s good people, and asks him to join this experiment. He injects him with a serum that turns him into a super solider - like a child of Ares, bigger, stronger, faster - and with the mind of an Athena kid.

“Then a load of stuff happens that isn’t too important, but then puts down a plane with nuclear bombs on it in the Arctic, and wakes up seventy years later to modern day America, where he joins… kind of like the FBI meets the NSA, called SHIELD, and then joins this initiative called the Avengers, which is a team of superheroes.”

Jason nodded slowly. “Okay… i think. Kym had this massive bronze disc thing with straps, and Percy mentioned Captain America when she put it on her shoulders. Did he do something like that?” 

Piper smacked her palm against her forehead. “Oh, yeah. Duh. His main weapon was a shield, made of vibranium, which in the world where Captain America is set is the strongest material in the world. He wears it on his back with straps just like you’re describing, so that’s probably what Percy was on about.” 

“And there’s a comic book? That I can watch? That explains all of this?” Jason asked, already feeling a headache begin to come on.

Piper winced. “Well. Um. So there’s a lot? Of comics? With different worlds and plots? And Captain America is in quite a few of those? So, uh. Maybe not? But they might be making a film, so maybe just like… wait for that to come out?” 

“Okay.” Jason thunked his head back against the mast. “Why is everything so complicated? I can literally fly, and it makes more sense than all the things people keep telling me about. Nico is from the 1930s and he knows more about the modern world than I do. I only found out about the moon landing three days ago!”

“Oh my gods,” Piper whispered, trying to keep the smile off her face, but failing abysmally if you asked Jason. “Nobody expects you to know everything, Jace. You can learn over time, you’ll be fine. Now do you wanna tell me about what you really came here to talk about?” 

Jason tensed up, a small spark of electricity jumping from his finger to scorch the deck. “Uhm. How did you-“

“Know?” She moved to lean against him, but backed off when his hair crackled in warning. “I know you. Plus you look guilty as all get out, which is a pretty big give away. You have done ever since you and Percy went to meet Kym.”

“Okay,” he said, breathing in shakily. Gods above why was this so hard? “So, I um. I wanted to talk to you about what happened in Split. Because..well. I kind of told Leo a little bit? And Nico knows. And I told Percy a really super small tiny bit. And I think you should know, because it kind of pertains to you? But not really. And I want you to know that this isn’t why I broke up with you, and it’s. Well, it’s not really got anything to do with you on the whole? But like.. i just think you should know.”

Piper took his hand, wincing at the inevitable shock, but holding on nonetheless. “First off, Sparky, you don’t  _ have  _ to tell me anything. I’m here for you, one hundred percent, if you  _ want  _ to tell me something, but you don’t have to do anything, especially not if it makes you uncomfortable.”

“I do,” Jason reassured her nervously. “I want you to know. It’s just.. well it’s just hard. I guess.”

She nodded encouragingly. “And second of all, I know you broke up with me because Hera made everything up. My mom’s Aphrodite, I can tell when there’s romantic attraction, and there isn’t any here. It made me sad, at first, but I’m not mad at you, and I’m okay with it.” 

“Okay. Right. Thank you.” He tapped his fingers against his thigh, trying to shake out the panic building in his chest. Gods, this had been easy with Percy, and not particularly difficult with Leo, but now he felt like he was stood in front of Cupid again - heart racing, skin clammy and veins coursing with electricity. “I’masexualandimsorryididnttellyouatfirstididntreallyknowhowtodealwithit.”

Piper blinked. “I’m sorry?” 

He laughed tightly. “I’m, uh. Asexual. I don’t want sex. With anybody! Not just you. And um. I guess I didn’t really know? Before Cupid, probably because of Hera. But then. Uhm. I didn’t know how to tell you? Because I thought it was my fault, but then Leo told me that it’s an actual thing, and that there are other people who’re the same and then I told Percy because he made this stupid joke and I realised it’s not that bad! Except for some reason telling you is super difficult and now I’m super wound up-”

“Sparky,  _ breathe.”  _ Piper murmured, and Jason gasped, going light headed as he stopped speaking and actually breathed in. 

“Okay, can I hug you?” She asked gently, wrapped her arms around him when he nodded. “For starters, thank you so much for telling me, you’re clearly super nervous about this and it means a lot, yeah?”

“Yeah,” he replied quietly, burrowing closer. 

“And I know what asexuality is. I know it’s nothing to do with me, and it’s not really anything to do with you either. Y’know Mitchell, in my cabin?” 

“The guy with the cool crop tops who painted my nails for Christmas?” 

Piper laughed. “Yeah, that guy. He’s aromantic, do you know what that means?”

Jason hummed. “Is it like… like me, but for romance, not sex?” 

“Yeah, exactly. He helps out with the induction of new Aphrodite campers, and makes sure we know about the aspec campers so that we don’t matchmake anybody who might be uncomfortable, and so that we don’t push any ace or Aro people into kissing or stuff like that,” she explained. 

“Oh wow,” Jason shifted until he was laid down with his head in her lap. “That makes sense, now that I think about it. It probably would really suck if someone tried to hook me up with someone else.”

Piper started carding her fingers through his hair. “Yeah. I mean, sex isn’t as much of a thing at camp as I’d expected, given that it’s a hundred or so teenagers who spend all their time together, but most of them have been through some seriously fucked up stuff, so I guess it’s not too weird. A lack of a libido is a normal response to trauma, according to Mitchell.”

“Do you... do you think that’s what I have? Just a trauma response? How do you know if it’s real or just a weird brain chemistry thing?” He shifted uncomfortably. “What happens if in a few years it all goes away and I’ve just told everyone I know something that’s not even true?” 

“I dunno, sparky,” she said, smiling apologetically. “I’m not an expert on this at all. You’ll have to talk to Mitchell and Will when we get back.” 

He groaned. “But these conversations  _ suck.  _ I just want someone to give me a card that tells me what’s going on with me so I don’t have to think about it anymore. Haven’t we earned a breather from sexuality crises?”

Piper laughed. “I’m not sure that’s how it works, buddy. You can’t cancel out your teenage problems by killing monsters.”

“But we’re saving the  _ world.”  _ Jason knew he sounded pathetic, but honestly he couldn’t bring himself to care. “Can’t your mom just…” he waved his arms and made a whooshing sound. “Like, fix it? I feel like we deserve that.” 

“You can always try praying to her,” Piper told him, the corner of her lips twitching. “But what would you even say? “Hi Aphrodite, just figured it was time to cash in my  _ saving the world _ cheque, so can I count on you for one cancelled sexuality crisis? Please and thanks, J. Grace”?” 

“It’s worth a shot, right?” He grinned at her. “What’s the point in being a hero if I can’t use it to overcome my problems? It’s not like we’re getting paid for this.”

“There’s a thought,” Piper mused. “Could we sue the Olympians for child Labour? We’re in the US, so really we should be protected by the Fair Labour Standards Act. We’re not legally allowed to work between 10pm and 6am, so really, this whole quest business is super illegal.”

“So what I’m hearing is we should sue the gods. That’s where we’re going with this, right?” Jason sat up, but stayed close to Piper. “You, me, Leo. Annabeth and Reyna because they’re intimidating and smart. Nico, Hazel and Pluto because justice is their thing and Pluto likes me. Percy because the gods are probably worried he’ll lose it and kill them at any moment, and even Gaia was worried about Frank so him too.” 

“Is this treason?” Piper eyed the sky nervously. Jason hadn’t noticed, but clouds had begun to gather. “Maybe we should stop talking about suing your dad when we’re in range of a lightning strike?” 

“Yeah, shit.” Jason stood up as the first raindrops started to fall. “Okay, dad we’re sorry, we were just kidding!” He grabbed Piper’s hand and dragged her inside when the rain showed no sign of stopping, laughing breathlessly. “Gods this is all your fault!”

“Mine?” Piper made a mock-offended face. “How is this my fault?” 

“You wanted to sue my dad!” He poked her shoulder. “How could you get me into trouble with the most important man in my life?” 

They stared at each other for a minute, barely keeping control of their smiles before they dissolved into laughter, leaning against each other and dripping water all over the floor. 

——

By the time Leo and the others returned, Piper and Jason had finally stopped laughing long enough to change into dry clothes, despite the giggles that kept occasionally breaking out whenever they made eye contact for more than a moment. 

Leo, bless him, took it in stride with no more than a glance that told Jason he’d have to recount the story to him later, before he began explaining everything that happened in Delos. He seemed different, and Hazel and Frank kept shooting him looks like they’d already attended his funeral, but every time Jason tried to catch him to talk, Leo somehow thought of yet another job that needed to be done to get the ship ready to go to Epidaurus, which was were they said they would find the Physician’s Cure.

By first light, Jason only managed to get Leo to stop for half an hour to nap half on top of each other in the heat of the boiler room, which took a lot more corralling than he’d expected. By the time he woke up, Leo was already tinkering again, and as soon as Jason’s eyes were open, Leo was already making excuses again. 

He found Leo two hours later standing at the helm, maneuvering the ship over the ruins of Epidaurus, knee jerking and fingers tapping like he was playing along to a song that Jason couldn’t hear. He’d seen Leo get like this before - hyper focus, Jake Mason had called it - where he forgot about everything his body needed and threw himself wholly into his work. Jason would be lucky to force a bagel and a glass of water into him before he started on another project.

Jason knocked his shoulder against Leo’s and offered a plate and a mug. “This is the only way I let you come with us,” he warned. “Otherwise I’m going to ramble for ten minutes about how you’re the closest thing I’ve had to a brother and how much I love you until you sequester yourself in the boiler room until kingdom come.” 

Leo scowled, but seemed to realise how hungry he was halfway through the first bagel he obligingly bit into, and made grabby hands once he’d managed to force the contents of the plate down his gullet with impressive speed. 

Percy handed him his muffin absently. “Looks like more rubble,” he noted, peering over the railing.

His face was still green from his underwater poisoning, but he’d stopped running to the bathroom to throw up quite so often, which was a relief. Between him and Hazel’s seasickness, it had been impossible to find an unoccupied toilet onboard for the past few days. 

Annabeth pointed to the disc-shaped structure about fifty yards off their port side. “There.”

Leo stopped choking down a churro he’d stolen from Piper long enough to nod his agreement. “Exactly. See, the architect knows her stuff.”

The rest of the crew gathered round. Jason couldn’t discern anything noteworthy, but Annabeth and Leo probably had an IQ higher than the rest of the team combined each, so he didn’t doubt them at all.

“What are we looking at?” Frank asked.

“Ah, señor Zhang,” Leo finished his churro, “you know how you’re always saying, “Leo, you are the only true genius among demigods”?” 

“I’m pretty sure I’ve never said that, but go on.”

“Well, turns out there are other true geniuses! Because one of them must have made that work of art down there.”

“It’s a stone circle,” Frank said, which pretty much summed up Jason’s analysis of the situation. “Probably the foundation of an old shrine.”

Piper shook her head. “No it’s more than that. Look at the ridges and grooves carved around the rim.”

Jason squinted. “Like the teeth of a gear?” 

“And those concentric rings.” Hazel pointed to the centre of the structure, where curved stones formed a sort of bullseye. “The pattern reminds me of Pasiphaë’s pendant: the symbol of the Labyrinth.”

“Huh,” Leo shuddered, and both Jason and Piper moved forward to flank his sides. “Well, I hadn’t thought of that. But think  _ mechanical.  _ Frank, Hazel… where did we see concentric circles like that before?” 

Frank lit up. “The laboratory under Rome!”

“The Archimedes lock on the door,” Hazel added. “It had rings within rings.”

Percy snorted. “You’re telling me that’s a massive stone lock? It’s, like, fifty feet in diameter.”

“And you’re water bender, babe,” Annabeth said. “Leo could be right, a fifty foot lock is hardly the weirdest thing in our world. In ancient times, the temple of Asclepius was like the General Hospital of Greece.  _ Everybody  _ came here for the best healing. Above ground, it was the size of a major city, but supposedly the real action happened below ground. That’s where the high priests had their intensive-care super-magical-type compound, accessed by a secret passage.”

Percy scratched his ear. “So, if that big round thing is the lock, how do we get the key?” 

“Way ahead of you, Katara,” Leo said. 

“That is a  _ compliment,” _ Percy replied primly.

Leo ignored him and turned to Jason and Piper. “You guys remember the giant Archimedes grabber arm I told you I was building?” 

Jason raised an eyebrow. “I thought you were kidding.”

“Oh, Azula, I  _ never  _ kid about giant grabber arms!” Leo rubbed his hands in anticipation. “It’s time to go fishing for prizes!” 

“What the fuck is an Azula?” Jason asked, even as Leo rushed off to open the hull’s forward access vent. 

Annabeth patted his shoulder consolingly. “You’re better off not knowing.” 

Jason blinked, but before he could ruminate on it for too long, Leo was back and grabbing his wrist, practically throwing him overboard as he told him what to do. 

He hovered obligingly and watched as Leo used his trackpad and turntable controls to direct a massive grabber arm out, yelling directions back to him until it was in position. To his utter amazement, the claw of the arm settled into the grooves of the circular stone structure below, and then began to turn like a corkscrew until the outer ring rumbled and ground, before repeating itself on each ring, until the last one settled with a deep pneumatic hiss. The entire fifty foot pedestal telescoped down into a spiral staircase. 

Jason touched down on deck just as Hazel exhaled. “Leo, even from up here, I’m sending bad stuff at the bottom of those stairs. Something… large and dangerous. You sure you don’t want me to come along?” 

“Thanks, Hazel, but we’ll be good.” Leo patted Jason and Piper on the back. “Me and Piper and Jason - we’re kind of old pros at large and dangerous.” 

Frank held out the vial of Pylosian mint. “Don’t break it.” 

Jason bristled slightly at Frank’s tone - Leo was probably the guy  _ least  _ likely to break the goal on the whole ship. Sure he was a fire tornado of chaos and bad jokes, but he was also mega talented and some kind of super genius. 

Luckily, Leo didn’t seem to think much of it, and he nodded gravely. “Don’t break the vial of deadly poison. Man, I’m glad you said that.  _ Never  _ would have occurred to me.”

“Shut up, Valdez.” Frank tugged Leo into a bear hug. “And be careful.”

“Ribs,” Leo squeaked.

“Right, sorry.” Frank backed off, but gave Leo’s shoulder a gentle squeeze first. Jason would’ve pressed, but he figured Leo would tell him when he was ready. 

Annabeth and Percy wished them good luck, then Jason summoned the winds and carried the three of them down to the surface. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed kiddos :)   
> If you have thirty seconds, tell me your favourite fun fact!   
> Here’s mine: botulism is the strongest toxin known to man, and has an LD50 (that’s the dose required to kill fifty percent of the test subjects) of approximately one nanogram per kilo of body mass.


	22. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason and his og pals go on a trip, Jason gets told he’s done fucked up his head, Leo attempts to insult a snake, and piper mind controls a god

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I swear I planned on doing this last week, I even had 1500 words or so started but then I remembered my chem homework at midnight and I’m doing school from home so it was due at 8 am so.... yeah  
> Anyways, I’ll prolly move these to Sunday’s because Mondays is just not working for me atm lol  
> Enjoy :))

The stairs spiralled downwards about sixty feet before opening into a chamber as large as Bunker Nine - which is to say, absolutely  _ massive.  _

The polished white tiles on the walls and floor reflected the light of Jason’s sword so well that Leo didn’t need to make fire, which was comforting. As much as he trusted his friend, Jason didn’t think fire and underground were necessarily a match he wanted to make. Rows of long stone benches filled the entire chamber, and at the far end of the room stood a ten-foot-tall statue of pure white alabaster - a young woman in a white robe, a serene smile on her face. In one hand she raised a cup, while a golden serpent coiled around her arm, it’s head poised over the brim as if ready to drink. 

“Large and dangerous,” Jason guessed. 

Piper scanned the room. “This must have been the sleeping area.” Her voice echoed a little louder than Jason would’ve liked. 

“The patients stayed here overnight. The god Asclepius was supposed to send them a dream, telling them what cure to ask for.”

“How do you know that?” Leo asked. “Annabeth told you?”

Piper looked offended. “I know stuff. That statue in the far corner is Hygeia, the daughter of Asclepius. She’s the goddess of good health. That’s where we get the word  _ hygiene _ .

“Nice.” Jason studied the statue warily. Snakes were never a good sign. “What’s with the snake and the cup?” 

“Um, not sure,” Piper admitted. “But back in the day this place - the Asclepeion - was a medical school as well as a hospital. All the best doctor-priests trained here. They would’ve worshipped both Asclepius and Hygeia.” 

Jason exchanged a glance with Leo, who looked about as interested in staying as he felt, then shatter down the centre aisle towards the statue. 

Strewn across the benches were old magazines:  _ Highlights for children, Autumn, 20B.C.E; Hephaestus-TV Weekly - Aphrodite’s Latest Baby Bump; A: The Magazine of Asclepius - Ten Simple Tips To Get The Most Out Of Your Leeching!  _

“It’s a reception area,” Leo muttered. “I  _ hate  _ reception areas.” 

Jason wasn’t sure exactly what reception areas had ever done to Leo, but he let it slide to study the piles of dust and bones scattered across the floor. 

“Check it out,” he pointed. “We’re those signs here when we walked in? And that door?” 

For  _ fuck’s  _ sake. Nothing good ever happened when things changed whilst you weren’t looking, and here they were, staring at a closed metal door on the wall to the right of the statue that hadn’t been there a moment ago, with two electric signboards above it. 

The top one read: 

THE DOCTOR IS: 

INCARCERATED.

The sign below that read:

NOW SERVING NUMBER: 0000000

Jason squinted, cursing under his breath. His vision had been getting a little blurrier of late, and this was  _ not  _ the time for it to act up. “I can’t read it that far away.  _ The doctor is…”  _

“Incarcerated,” Leo told him. “Apollo warned me that Asclepius was being held under guard. Zeus didn’t want him sharing his medical secrets or something.” 

“Twenty bucks anf a box of Froot Loops that statue is the guardian,” Piper said.

“Do I look like I have twenty bucks?” Jason motioned to the hole in his t-shirt from when he’d been stabbed, and the fade on the knees of his jeans from falling over numerous times. 

Leo snorted. “I am not taking that bet.” He glanced at the nearest pile of waiting-room dust. “Well… I guess we take a number.” 

——

The giant statue had other ideas.

When they got within five feet, she turned her head to look at them. Her expression remained frozen. Her mouth didn’t move. Regardless, a voice issued from somewhere above and echoed through the room. 

“Do you have an appointment?” 

Piper, bless her, didn’t miss a beat. “Hello, Hygeia! Apollo sent us. We need to see Asclepius.” 

The alabaster statue stepped off her dais. Leo looked to be considering the mechanical properties of animated alabaster, but Jason was still hung up on the fact that she was moving towards them, creepy face still blank.

“I see.” The statue kept smiling, though she didn’t sound pleased. “May I make a copy of your insurance cards?” 

“Ah, well…” Piper faltered. “We don’t have them on us, but-”

“ _ No insurance cards?”  _ The statue shook her head. An exasperated sigh echoed throughout the chamber. “And I suppose you haven’t prepared for your visit, either. Have you washed your hands thoroughly?” 

“Uh… yes?” Piper said.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jason saw Leo inspect his hands - filthy as always - and tuck them behind his back. 

“And are you wearing clean underwear?” The statue asked.

“Hey, lady,” Leo said, “that’s getting personal.”

“You should always wear clean underwear to the doctors office,” chided Hygeia. “I’m afraid you are a health hazard. You will have to be sanitised before we can proceed.”

The golden snake uncurled and dropped from her arm. It reared its head and hissed, flashing sabre-like fangs.

“Uh, you know,” Jason said, backing away, “getting sanitised by large snakes isn’t covered by our medical plan. Damn it.”

“Oh, that doesn’t matter,” Hygeia assured him. “Sanitising is a community service. It’s complimentary!” 

The snake lunged.

In some incredible feat, Leo leaped to one side and came up, hands blazing. As the snake attacked, Leo blasted it in the eyes, causing it to veer left and smash into the bench.

After taking a moment to feel really damn proud of his friend, Jason went to work on Hygeia with Piper. They slashed through the statue’s knees, felling her like some alabaster lumber. Her head hit a bench. Her chalice splashed steaming acid all over the floor. Jason and Piper moved in for the kill, but before they could strike, Hygeia’s legs popped back on like they were magnetic. The goddess rose still smiling.

“Unacceptable,” she thundered, voice jarringly at odds with her face. “The doctor will not see you until you are properly sanitised.”

She sloshed her cup towards Piper, who jumped out of the way as more acid splashed across the nearest benches, dissolving the stone in a hissing cloud of steam. 

In his peripheral, Jason saw the snake recover and strike at Leo, who ducked and tried to grapple its neck unsuccessfully. He winced in sympathy as the snake shot past, leaving Leo scraped and bleeding.

Before he could shout encouragement, or at least commiserations, he saw an opening with Hygeia and soared into the air to lop the goddess’s head off.

Sadly, the head flew right back into place.

“Unacceptable,” Hygeia said calmly. “Decapitation is not a healthy lifestyle choice.” 

“Jason, get over here!” Leo yelled. “Piper buy us some time!” 

Jason glanced to Piper, hoping she’d come up with something miraculous. As always, she delivered. 

“Hygeia!” She yelled. “I have insurance!” 

That got the statue’s attention. Even the golden snake turned towards her, as if insurance was some kind of tasty rodent. 

“Insurance?” The statue said eagerly. Jason imagined if it were an actual person, it would be practically toppling over in excitement. “Who is your provider?” 

“Uh… Blue Lightning,” Piper said. “I have the card right here. Just a second.”

She made a big show of patting down her pockets, and as the snake slithered over to watch, Jason sprinted to Leo’s side. 

“What’s the plan?” He gasped.

“We can’t destroy these things,” Leo said. “They’re designed for self-healing. They’re immune to pretty much every kind of damage.”

That… was not what Jason had been hoping to hear. 

“Great,” he said, trying not to sound too unenthused. “So…?” 

“You remember Chiron’s old gaming system?” Leo asked. 

Jason’s eyes widened. “Leo… this isn’t Mario Party Six.” 

“Same principle though.”

“Idiot mode?”

Leo grinned at him. “I’ll need you and Piper to run interference. I’ll reporgam the snake, then Big Bertha.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “Hygeia.”

“Hygeia,” Leo mimicked, pulling a face. “Whatever. Read?” 

“No.”

They ran for the snake.

Hygeia was assailing Piper with health-care questions. “Is Blue Lightning an HMO? What is your deductible? Who is your primary care deity? Have you experienced vomiting or diarrhoea in the past forty eight hours?” 

As Piper ad-libbed answers, Leo jumped on the serpent’s backs. Jason watched nervously as he prised open a panel near the snake’s head, holding on impressively with his legs.

Jason was ready to attack if necessary, but the snake seemed transfixed by Piper’s problems with Blue Lightning’s coverage. 

“Then the advice nurse said I had to call a service centre,” Piper reported. “And the medications weren’t covered by my plan! And-”

The snake lurched suddenly and Leo jumped off just as it began shaking uncontrollably.

Hygeia whirled to face them. “What have you done? My snake requires medical assistance!” 

“Does it have insurance?” Piper asked.

“WHAT?” The statue turned back to her, and Leo jumped. Jason barely had time to summon a gust of wind to boost Leo onto the giant’s shoulders, but he just about managed it. Leo started working and Jason took to the air.

“Get off!” Hygeia yelled. “This is not hygienic!” 

“Hey!” Jason yelled, flying circles around her. “I have questions about my deductibles!” 

“ _ What?” _ The statue cried.

“Hygeia!” Piper shouted. “I need an invoice submitted to Medicare!”

“No, please!” 

Leo obviously did something right, because Hygeia began to spin in circles, hollering and flailing her arms. Leo jumped away, narrowly avoiding an acid bath.

Jason and his friends back up while Hygeia and her snake underwent a violent religious experience. 

“What did you do?” Piper demanded.

“Idiot mode,” Leo said.

“Excuse me?” 

“Back at camp,” Jason cut in before Leo could have too much fun winding Piper up, “Chiron had this ancient gaming system in the rec room. Leo and I used to play it sometimes. You’d compete against, like, computer-controlled opponents, come-”

“-and they had three difficulty options,” Leo interrupted. “ _ Easy, medium,  _ and  _ hard.”  _

“I’ve played video games before,” Piper said. “So what did you do?”

“Well… I got bored with those settings.” Leo shrugged. “So I invented a fourth difficulty level:  _ idiot mode _ . It makes the coms  _ so  _ stupid it’s funny. They always choose exactly the wrong thing to do.” 

Piper stared at the statue and snake, both of which were writhing and starting to smoke. “Are you sure you set them to  _ idiot mode?”  _

“We’ll know in a minute.”

“What if you set them to  _ extreme  _ difficulty?” 

“Then..uh… we’ll know that, too?” 

The snake stopped shuddering. It cooked up and looked around, bewildered. 

Hygeia froze. A puff of smoke drifted from her right ear. She looked down at them. “You must die! Hello! You must die!” 

She raised her cup and poured acid over her face, then turned and marched face-first into the nearest wall. 

The snake rested up and slammed its head repeatedly into the floor.

“Okay,” Jason said. “I’m gonna hazard a guess, and say we’ve achieved  _ idiot mode?”  _

“Aye aye, superman.” 

“Hello! Die!” Hygeia backed away from the wall, then slammed herself back into it.

“Let’s go.” 

They ran for the metal door next to the dais. Leo grabbed the handle, then stared up at the signs above the door.

“Jason,” he said abruptly, “give me a boost.”

Jason waved a hand absently to send a gust of wind Leo’s way as he turned to make sure Piper had survived the encounter in one piece. 

After a moment, Leo crowed triumphantly, and the pair of them turned, as if in slow motion, to see their friend waving his arms around and gesturing to the signs until the top one read: 

**_THE DOCTOR IS:_ **

**_IN DA HOUSE._ **

And the bottom one had changed to read: 

**_NOW SERVING:_ **

**_ALL DA LADIES LUV LEO_ **

The metal door swung open just as Leo touched back down. 

“See, the wait wasn’t so bad!” He called over. 

Jason snorted and shook his head fondly.

“The doctor will see us now.” 

——

At the end of the hall stood a walnut door with a bronze plaque that Jason couldn’t quite make out the lettering on. 

Piper knocked before he worked up the will to squint long enough to read them. 

“Dr Asclepius?” 

The door flew open, and they were greeted by a man with a kindly smile, crinkles around his eyes, short salt-and-pepper hair, and a well trimmed beard. He wore a white lab coat over a business suit and a stethoscope around his neck. If you ignored the polished black staff with a live green python coiled around it, he looked that like ‘McDreamy’ or whatever from the doctor show a girl from Apollo had tried to get him into. 

“Doctor.” Piper’s smile was so warm it could’ve melted a Boread. “We’d be so  _ grateful  _ for your help. We need the physician’s cure.”

Jason wasn’t even her target, but Piper’s charmspeak washed over him irresistibly. He felt Leo go slightly boneless and sag against him and took slight solace in knowing he wasn’t the only one. 

Asclepius put his hand over his heart. “Oh, my dear. I would be delighted to help.”

Piper’s smile wavered. “You would? I mean… uh, of course you would.”

“Come in! Come in!” Asclepius ushered them into his office.

Honestly, Asclepius’s office looked like everything Jason had imagined himself having during the eight month period in which he’d decided to shirk his duties as a Son of Jupiter and become a doctor: it had a big maple desk, bookshelves stuffed with medical books, and some of those plastic organ models Jason had always found himself toying with even when he’d been told explicitly not to touch during tours of New Rome University. 

Asclepius took the big comfy doctor’s chair and laid his staff and serpent across his desk. “Please, sit!” 

Jason and Piper took the two patient’s chairs whilst Leo remained standing. Usually Jason would’ve insisted, but his friend wasn’t a big fan of snakes and he likely prefered to maintain some distance.

“So,” Asclepius leaned back. “I can’t tell you how nice it is to actually talk with patients. The last few thousand years, the paperwork he got out of control. Rush, rush, rush. Fill in forms. Deal with red tape. Not to mention the giant alabaster guard who kills everyone in the waiting room. It takes all the fun out of medicine!” 

“Oh, yeah, I can imagine,” Leo said. “Hygeia is kind of a downer.”

Asclepius grinned. “My  _ real  _ daughter Hygeia isn’t like that, I assure you. She’s quite lovely. At any rate, you did well reprogramming the statue. You have a surgeon's hands.” 

Jason shuddered, struck with an imagine of Leo wielding a scalpel and laughing maniacally. “Leo with a scalpel? Don’t encourage him.”

The god chuckled. “Now, what seems to be the trouble?” He sat forward and peered at Jason. “Hmm…. Post-concussion syndrome. Blurry vision, persistent memory issues, fatigue and insomnia on and off, headaches? My, my, you should protect your head a little more, Mr Grace. I’m quite surprised you haven’t developed second hit syndrome.”

“Uh.” Piper glanced between them. “Second hit syndrome?” 

“Oh, yes,” Asclepius replied cheerfully, brushing his fingertips over where the scar from Jason’s stab wound was as if to check the healing through his t-shirt. “It’s when a person receives a second blow to the head in the days or weeks after even the mildest of concussions, leading to swelling and possible herniation of the brain. If our dear Jason isn’t careful, he could die, or be paralysed for life.” 

Jason choked on his spit. “I could  _ what?”  _

“Honestly,” the god tutted, rummaging around in a draw until he pulled out a prescription pad. “You’d think these camps would give you a little more first aid knowledge than how to put a plaster on things.” He scribbled something on a pad and then handed Jason a glasses case. “Now, my boy. These should help with the blurry vision and reduce strain on your eyes whilst your head heals. I’d recommend you stay out of fights with flying projectiles, and try not to read too much until things start to feel a bit better. Some sort of sleep aid, anything containing melatonin or valerian should do you some good, though avoid diphenhydramine as it’ll make your vision worse.” 

Jason blinked. “Uhm. Thank you?” 

“Try them on.” 

Jason opened the case and avoided Piper’s concerned glances. 

“Why didn’t you tell us, Jace?” Piper asked him gently.

“I didn’t think it was anything bad.” He slid the glasses up his nose, exhaling sharply as the finer things came into focus. “I just thought I was really tired.” 

Piper smiled. “You look very distinguished.”

“I don’t know, man,” Leo said. “I’d go for contacts - glowing orange ones with cat-eye pupils. Those would be cool.”

Jason laughed. “I think I’ll stick to glasses. Thanks, uh, Doc, but that’s not why we came.”

“No?” Asclepius steepled his fingers. “Well, let’s see then…”

He turned to Piper. “You seem fine, my dear. Broken arm when you were six? Fell off a horse?” 

Piper’s jaw dropped. “How could you possibly know that?” 

“Vegetarian diet,” the god continued. “No problem, just make sure you’re getting enough iron and protein. Beans and legumes are always a good decision. Hmm… a little weak in the left shoulder. I assume you got hit with something heavy about a month ago?” 

“A sandbag in Rome.” Piper said. “That’s amazing.”

“Alternate ice and a hot pack if it bothers you,” Asclepius advised. “And you…” he faced Leo.

“Oh, my.” The doctor’s expression turned grim. The friendly twinkle disappeared from his eyes. “Oh, I see…”

Jason gripped the arms of his chair and turned to face his friend as panic bubbled up under his diaphragm. “What? What’s wrong with Leo?” 

“Hey, doc.” Leo looked at the doctor weirdly. “We came for the physician's cure. Can you help us? I’ve got some Pylosian mint here, and a very nice yellow daisy from your dear old pops.” He set the ingredients on the desk, carefully avoiding the snake’s mouth. 

“Woah, hold it,” Piper said. “Is there something wrong with Leo or not?” 

Asclepius cleared his throat. “I… never mind. Forget I said anything. Now, you want the physician’s cure?” 

Piper frowned. “But-”

“Seriously, guys,” Leo said. “I’m fine, except for the monumental threat to my well-being that is our lovely matriarch destroying the world in T-minus twenty four hours. Let’s move it along.” 

Jason frowned but relented - gods knew Leo couldn’t be budged once he’d fixed his mind onto something. 

Asclepius forged ahead. “So this daisy was picked by my father, Apollo?” 

“You betcha,” Leo said. “He sends hugs and kisses.”

Asclepius picked up the flower and sniffed it delicately. “I do hope Dad comes through this war alright. Zeus can be… quite unreasonable. Now, the only missing ingredient is the heartbeat of the chained god.”

“I have it,” Piper said. “At least… I can summon the  _ makhai.” _

“Excellent. Just a moment, poppet.” He looked at his python. “Spike, are you ready?” 

Leo let out a strangled laugh. “Your snake’s name is Spike?” 

Spike stared at them balefully. He hissed, revealing a crown of spikes around his neck like a basilisk’s. 

The mirth was wiped right off Leo’s face, and Jason scooted his chair back a little. 

“My bad,” Leo said. “Of course your name is Spike.”

“He’s a little grumpy,” Asclepius said. “People are always confusing  _ my  _ staff with the staff of Hermes, which was two snake’s, obviously. Over the centuries, people have called the Caduceus the symbol of medicine, when of course it should be  _ my  _ staff. Spike feels slighted - George and Martha get all the attention. Anyway…”

Asclepius set the daisy and poison in front of Spike. “Pylosian mint - the certainty of death. The curse of Delos - chaining that which cannot be chained. Now, for the final ingredient: the heartbeat of the chained god - chaos, violence and fear of mortality.” He turned to Piper. “My dear, you may release the  _ makhai.”  _

Piper closed her eyes.

Wind swirled through the room, though not of Jason’s making. Angry voices wailed. Rage burned through the path Jason’s anxiety over Leo had been making, leaving him furious and itching to grab Asclepius’s staff and start jabbing. 

Then, Spike unhinged his jaw and swallowed the angry wind. His neck ballooned as the spirits of battle went down his throat. He snapped up the daisy, and finally the vial of Pylosian mint, for dessert. 

“Won’t the poison hurt him?” Jason asked.

“No, no,” Asclepius said. “Wait and see.”

A moment later Spike belched out a new goal - a stoppered glass tube no bigger than Jason’s finger. Dark red liquid glowed like sunlight through blood on a shard of glass. 

“The physician’s cure.” Asclepius picked up the goal and turned it in the light. His expression became serious, then bewildered. “Wait… why did I agree to make this?”

Piper placed her hand palm up on the desk. “Because we need it to save the world. It’s very important. You’re the only one who can help us.”

Her charmspeak was so potent even Spike the snake relaxed. He curled around his staff and went to sleep. Asclepius’s expression softened, like his was lowering himself into a hot bath. 

“Of course,” the god agreed. “I forgot. But you must be careful. Hades hates it when I raise people from the dead. The last time I gave someone this potion, the Lord of the Underworld complained to Zeus, and I was killed by a lightning bolt. BOOM!” 

“You look pretty good for a dead guy,” Leo said, voice tight. 

“Oh, I got better. There was this whole compromise thing, because dad wanted revenge, and then Zeus punished him for taking revenge and there was this whole back and forth deal where the gods discarded everyone else’s lives for the sake of their own drama, until to keep the peace, Zeus made me god of medicine, but stipulated that i couldn’t bring anyone back to life.” Asclepius’s eyes filled with uncertainty. “And yet here I am… giving you the cure.” 

“Because you realise how important this is,” Piper said quickly. “And you’re willing to make an exception.” 

“Yes…” reluctantly, Asclepius handed Piper the goal. “At any rate, the potion must be administered as soon as possible after death. It can be injected or poured into the mouth. And there is only enough for one person. Do you understand me?” 

“We understand,” Piper promised. “Are you sure you don’t want to come with us, Asclepius? Your guardian is out of commission. You’d really be helpful aboard the  _ Argo II.” _

Asclepius smiled wistfully. “The  _ Argo…  _ back when I was a demigod, I sailed on the original ship, you know. Ah, to be a carefree adventurer again!”

“Sure…” Jason muttered. “Carefree..”

“But alas, I cannot. Zeus will already be quite angry with me for helping you. Besides, the guardian will reprogram itself soon. You should leave.” Asclepius rose. “Best wishes, demigods. And, if you happen to see my father again, please… give him my regrets.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos are much appreciated if you enjoy :)))   
> Also if you like jatp (which,, if you haven’t seen it,,,, it’s hsm but ghosts but gay, the music slaps, Madison Reyes is a GODDESS and the boys r all cute (so are jadah, tori and Savannah as well lol everyone is cute) so you should) go check out some of my other stuff for funsies   
> Also feel free to message me on tumblr I’m very friendly except pls don’t send asks I don’t understand how they work and I don’t get notifications for them lol


	23. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason had a dramatic entrance, meets his dad, realises his daddy issues stem from daddy being a dick, bros out with Pluto, and is almost killed by aforementioned dad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this was supposed to be up last night but i fell asleep writing it and slept most of today, so here it is now instead  
> Fun fact: although i did mess with a lot of this chapter, the Jason vs Zeus in front of the gods things almost happens like that and i did not change his lines, which is why it’s annoying when people say he’s bland, he was just as ready to fight Zeus as Percy was after five seconds of knowing him lol although i did cut out the weird Jason finally feels recognised by his dad bit because... we’ve covered that  
> Enjoy!

Sometimes, Jason couldn’t deny that he was at least a little bit a son of Jupiter in spirit as well as power. 

Planning how best to dramatically enter the arena where his friends were fighting giants in a way that was both cool  _ and  _ effective was one of them. 

In the end, he decided on an old classic. When Piper yelled “Come on then, then! I’ll destroy you myself!” He took the golden opportunity presented to him. 

He dug down deep into the well of emotions in his stomach, every flicker of anger that he’d thought too strong to use for his practice near Pylos, every curse he’d aimed heavenward, every heart stopping moment of grief for the boy he’d been and the things he’d lost, and let the storm build. 

When he thought a long enough pause had past, and a metallic scent had filled the air, he threw himself over the arena wall and settled onto the nearest colonnade to Piper. 

“The thing is,” he said, directing the wind slightly to make his voice echo, “you don’t have to.” 

Frank stood at his side, bow in hand, and Hazel sat astride Arion, who reared and whinnied in challenge. 

“Aut cum scuto, aut in scuto,” he murmured, then let electricity flood his veins as he leapt for the king. 

He landed with such force that King Porphyrion crumpled to his knees, blasted with lightning and with a golden  _ gladius  _ plunged into his neck. 

Frank unleashed a hail of arrows, driving back the giants nearest to Oercy. 

The  _ Argo II  _ rose above the ruins and all the ballistae and catapults fired simultaneously, with a surgical precision that left Jason in awe. A wall of Greek fire roared upward all around the Parthenon. It didn’t touch the interior, but in a flash most of the small monsters around it were incinerated. 

Leo’s voice boomed over the loudspeaker: “SURRENDER! YOU ARE SURROUNDED BY ONE SPANKING HOT WAR MACHINE!”

The giant Enceladus howled in outrage. “Valdez!” 

“WHAT’S UP, ENCHILADAS?” Leo’s voice roared back. “NICE DAGGER IN YOUR FOREHEAD!” 

“Gah!” The giant pulled Piper’s knife out of his head. “Monsters: destroy that ship!” 

The remaining forces tried their best. A flock of gryphons rose to attack. Festus the figurehead blew flames and chargrilled them out of the sky. A few Earthborn launched a valley of rocks, but from the side of the hull a dozen Archimedes spheres sprayed out, intercepting the boulders and blasting them to dust.

“PUT SOME CLOTHES ON!” Buford the table ordered.

Hazel spurred Arion off the colonnade and they leaked into battle. Jason lost sight of her pretty quickly, but every so often he’d seen a blur of gold and tan as they zipped from giant to giant and sliced through them with the blade of her  _ spatha.  _

With extremely bad timing, Kekrops and his snake people chose that moment to join the fight. In four or five places around the ruins, the ground turned to green goo and armed  _ Gemini  _ burst forward, Kekrops himself in the lead.

“Kill the demigod,” he hissed. “Kill the tricksters!” 

Before many of his warriors could follow, Hazel paused in Jason’s line of sight and pointed her blade at the nearest tunnel. The ground tumbled. All the gooey membranes popped and the tunnels collapsed, billowing plumes of dust into the air. Kekrops looked around at his army, now reduced to six guys.

“SLITHER AWAY!” He ordered.

Frank’s arrows cut them down as they tried to retreat. 

The giantess Periboia thawed with alarming speed and made a grab for Annabeth then Annabeth was barely avoiding. Despite her bad leg, she stabbed at the giantess with her hunting knife and led her in a game of tag around the throne. 

Percy was back on his feet, Riptide back in hand. He looked dazed, and his nose was bleeding, but he seemed to be standing his ground against the old giant Thoon, and who had reattached the hand Jason had seen laying on the ground, and found a meat cleaver. 

Jason quickly found himself as close to back to back with Piper as her electrical tolerance would allow, fighting anyone who dared to attempt to breach the sphere of rapid wind and lightning whipping around them. 

Too soon, their element of surprise faded and the giants overcame their confusion. 

Frank ran out of arrows. He changed into a rhinoceros and leaped into battle, but as fast as he could knock down giants they got back up again. Their wounds seemed to be healing faster.

Annabeth lost ground against Periboia. Hazel was knocked out of her saddle at sixty miles an hour. The next bolt of lightning Jason shot at Porphyrion was deflected by the tip of his spear.

The giants were bigger, stronger and they outmanned them massively. They couldn’t be killed without the help of gods, and they didn’t seek to be tiring.

The six demigods were forced into a defensive ring.

Another volley of Earthborn rocks hit the  _ Argo II.  _ This time Leo couldn’t return fire fast enough. Rows of oars were sheared off. The ship shuddered and tilted in the sky. 

Then Enceladus threw his fiery spear. It pierced the ship’s hull and exploded inside, sending sprouts of fire through the oar openings. An ominous black cloud billowed from the deck. The  _ Argo II  _ began to sink. 

“Leo!” Jason cried.

Porphyrion laughed. “You demigods have learned nothing. There are no gods to aid you. We need only one thing from you to make our victory complete.”

The giant king smiled expectantly. His gaze was aimed at Percy.

The rest of them turned to watch as a trick of blood made its way from his nose to the end of his chin.

“Percy, look out…” Piper tried to say, but her voice failed her.

A single drop of blood fell from Percy’s chin. It hit the ground between his feet and sizzled like water on a frying pan. 

The blood of Olympus watered the ancient stones.

The Acropolis groaned and shifted as the Earth Mother woke. 

——

Jason had heard of someone’s life flashing before their eyes.

He hadn’t thought it would be like this.

Standing with his friends in a ring, surrounded by giants, then looking up at an impossible vision in the sky - Jason could very clearly picture himself fifty years in the future. 

He was sitting in one of the sturdy wicker chairs in the classroom for the younger kids in New Rome. Nico was stood at his side, hair shot through with silver, deep lines etched into the corner of his eyes. He looked like Pluto, really, if Pluto spent a little more time in the sun, a little more time with Prosperine. Children sat at their feet, watching eagerly as he tried to explain what happened to them on this day in Athens. 

_ No, I’m serious,  _ he said.  _ Just six demigods on the ground and one more in a burning ship above the Acropolis. We were surrounded by thirty-foot-tall giants who were about to kill us. Then the sky opened up and the gods descended!  _

_ Mr Grace,  _ the kids said,  _ you’re full of shit.  _

_ I’m not kidding?  _ He protested, even as Nico snorted at their language.  _ The Olympian gods came charging out of the heavens on their war chariots, trumpets blaring, swords flaming. And my dad, that asshole, the king of the gods, he let the charge, a javelin of pure electricity crackling in his hand!  _

The kids laughed at him, and Nico glanced over, smiling like  _ Would you believe it, if you hadn’t lived what we’ve lived?  _

But Jason  _ did  _ live it. He looked up as the clouds parted over the Acropolis, and he almost expected intense headaches and other fun symptoms of post-concussion syndrome to coincide with his nice new hallucinations. Instead of blue skies, he saw black space littered with stars, the palaces of Mount Olympus gleaming silver and gold in the background. And an army of gods charging down from on high. 

It was too much to process, and it was probably better for his health that he didn’t see it all. 

There was supersized Jupiter - no, this was  _ Zeus,  _ his original form - riding into battle in a golden chariot, a lightning bolt the size of a telephone pole crackling in one hand. Pulling his chariot were four horses made of wind, each constantly shifting from equine to human form, trying to break free. For a split second, one took on the icy visage of Boreas. Another wore Notus’ swirling crown of fire and steam. A third flashed the smug lazy smile of Zephyrus. Zeus had bound and harnessed the four wind gods themselves. 

On the underbelly of the  _ Argo II,  _ the glass bag doors split open. The goddess Nike tumbled out, free from her golden net. She spread her glittering wings and soared to Zeus’s side, taking her rightful place as his charioteer. 

“MY MIND IS RESTORED,” she roared. “VICTORY TO THE GODS!” 

At Zeus’s left flank rose Hera, her chariot pulled by enormous peacocks, their rainbow-coloured plumage so bright it gave Jason the spins. 

Ares bellowed with glee as he thundered down on the back of a fire-breathing horse. His spear glistened a red so intense it made Jason want to punch something.

In the last second, before the gods reached the Parthenon, they seemed to displace themselves, like they’d jumped through hyperspace. The chariots disappeared. Suddenly, Jason and his friends were surrounded by the Olympians, human-sized, tiny next to the giants, but glowing with power.

In front of Jason and Hazel, the shadow of a nearby colonnade darkened until Pluto and Prosperine stepped forth. Pluto nodded at them both. 

“Astra inclinant, sed non obligant,” he reminded them gently, and they charged into battle. 

The fighting ranged all over the Parthenon and spilled across the Acropolis. Out of the corner of his eyes, Jason saw Annabeth fighting Enceladus. At her side stood a woman with long dark hair and golden armour over her white robes. The goddess thrust her spear at the giant, then brandished her shield with the fearsome bronzed visage of Medusa. Together, Athena and Annabeth drove Enceladus back into the nearest wall of scaffolding, which collapsed on top of him. 

On the opposite side of the temple, Frank and Ares smashed through an entire phalanx of giants, Ares with his spear and shield, Frank as an African elephant with his trunk and feet.

The war for laughed and stabbed and disemboweled like a kid destroying piñatas. 

Percy battled the giant twins, Otis and Ephialtes, while at his side fought a bearded man with a trident and a loud Hawaiian shirt. The twin giants stumbled. Poseidon’s trident morphed into a fire hose, and the god sprayed the giants out of the Parthenon with a high-powered blast in the shape of wild horses. 

Piper and Aphrodite fought side by side, yelling opposite orders in charmspeak so strong Jason could feel the remnants of it even through his bubble of wind and lightning as they sparred with the giantess Periboia. 

Leo raced across the deck of the  _ Argo II,  _ shooting ballistae, dropping hammers on the giants’ heads and blowtorching their loincloths. Behind him at the helm, a burly bearded guy in a mechanic’s uniform was tinkering with the controls, furiously trying to keep the ship aloft.

The strangest sight was the old giant Thoon, he was getting bludgeoned to death by three old ladies with brass clubs - the Fates, armed for war. Jason decided there was nothing in the world scarier than a gang of bat-wielding grannies.

Hazel raced through the battle on Arion’s back, disappearing in the Mist whenever a giant came close, then appearing behind him and stabbing him in the back. The goddess Hecate danced in her wake, setting fire to their enemies with her two blazing torches. 

Pluto, now Hades, split himself between her and Jason, opening the ground to swallow giants when necessary, and fighting alongside either of them as they needed it. Jason recalled the words the Roman god had said to him way back on Scirion’s island.  **_My friend._ **

On Jason’s other side was a much less welcome ally: Zeus. 

Zeus smelled of rain and clean wind. He made the air burn with energy. Up close, his lightning bolt appeared as a bronze rod a metre long, pointed on both ends, with blades of energy, pointed on both ends, with blades of energy extending from both sides to form a javelin of white electricity. He slashed across the giant’s path and Porphyrion collapsed into his makeshift throne, which crumbled under the giant’s weight. 

“No throne for you,” Zeus growled. “Not here. Not  _ ever.”  _

“You  _ cannot  _ stop us!” The giant yelled. “It is  _ done!  _ The Earth Mother is awake!” 

In answer, Zeus blasted the throne to rubble. The giant king flew backwards out of them temple, and Jason ran after him, his father and shadow tendrils at his heels. 

They backed Porphyrion to the edge of the cliffs, the whole of modern Athens spread out below. Lightning had melted all of the weapons in the giant’s hair. Molten Celestial bronze dripped through his dreadlocks like caramel. His skin steamed and blistered.

Porphyrion snarled and raised his spear. “Your cause is lost, Zeus. Even if you defeat me, the Earth Mother shall simply raise me again!” 

“Then perhaps,” Zeus said, “you should not die in the embrace of Gaia. Jason, my son…”

Jason waited for the rush of exaltation, the feeling of being  _ seen.  _ It didn’t come. He had proved his worth a million times, and only now was he being acknowledged, when Zeus needed him directly and in person, when Pluto, even when Jason remembered nothing, had chosen to reach out and remind him of his roots. 

The indignation built up until his sternum. 

His vision glowed with a white tinge.

Jason advanced. 

Porphyrion lashed out wildly with his spear, but Jason cut it in half with his  _ gladius _ . He charged in, jabbing his sword through the giant’s breastplate, then concentrated the storm that had begun to twist around him and blasted Porphyrion off the edge of the cliff. 

As the giant fell, screaming, Zeus pointed his lightning bolt. An arc of pure white heat vaporised Porphyrion in midair. His ashes gently drifted down in a gentle cloud, dusting the tops of the olive trees on the slopes of the Acropolis. 

Zeus turned to Jason. His lightning bold flickered off, and Zeus clipped the Celestial bronze rod to his belt. The god’s eyes were stormy grey. His salt-and-pepper hair and his beard looked like stratus clouds. Jason found it strange that the Lord of the universe, king of Olympus, was only a few inches taller than he was. 

“My son.” Zeus clasped Jason’s shoulder. “There is so much I would like to tell you…” 

the god took a heavy breath, making the air crackle and Jason’s new glasses fog up. “Alas, as king of the gods, I must not show favouritism to my children. When we return to the other Olympians, I will not be able to praise you as much as I would like, or give you as much credit as you deserve.”

Jason tried to dredge up some kind of sympathy for him, this thoughtless being who gave life as and when he desired pleasure, but had given so much that he couldn’t given Jason credit for helping save the world, lest he offend one of the hundreds of other children he’d ignored. 

“I don’t want praise. I just want my friends to be safe.” He shrugged and stared at his feet, hoping he came across as awe struck and not pissed. 

Before Zeus could make some kind of comment, a voice called Jason’s name. They turned to see the god of the dead, back in his Roman form, waiting expectantly. 

“Excuse me, father.” Jason bowed shallowly in Zeus’s direction, and made his way to Pluto as fast as he could. 

“Ah, my friend,” Pluto greeted, holding a hand out. “You fought excellently.”

Jason shook it cautiously. “Thank you, Pluto. You as well.”

“We cannot talk long, your father and step-mother would be displeased, but I wanted to thank you, for caring for my children,” Pluto told him solemnly, eyes burning intensely with a dark fire. “You have suffered many hardships on your journey, yet never did you stop helping Hazel and Nico. My wife and I… we’re incredibly grateful. You’ve earned our pride and respect countless times over. Be proud, son. You have proven yourself a true hero.” 

Jason’s eyes stung, and he coughed to clear the lump in his throat. “Thank you, but Nico and Hazel were just as there for me. I never would have made it this far without them. They’re amazing warriors, and even better friends.” 

Prosperine appeared at Pluto’s shoulder, a smear of golden ichor across her cheek making her ruggedly beautiful in the same way Nico got mid fight - the mark of violence enhancing her features instead of marring them. “Come, boys. The worst has not yet arrived.” 

——

Nothing was left of the giants except heaps of ash, a few spears and some burning dreadlocks. 

The  _ Argo II  _ was still aloft, barely, moored to the top of the Parthenon. Half the ship’s oars were broken off or tangled. Smoke streamed from several large splits in the hull. The sails were peppered with burning holes.

Leo looked almost as bad. He stood in the midst of the temple with the other crew members, his face covered in soot, his clothes smouldering.

Jason briefly considered how hot lightning was, and figured he could bear any burns before he surged forward and hugged his friend. 

The gods fanned out in a semicircle as Zeus approached. None of them seemed particularly joyful about their victory. 

Apollo and Artemis stood together in the shadow of a column, as if trying to hide. Hera and Poseidon were having an intense discussion with another goddess in green and gold robes - perhaps Demeter. Nike tried to put a golden laurel wreath on Hecate’s head, but the goddess of magic swatted it away. Hermes sneaked closer to Athena, attempting to put his arm around her. Athena turned her  _ aegis  _ shield his way and Hermes scurried off.

Even Ares seemed subdued as he congratulated a rather queasy looking Frank’s 

“Brethren,” Zeus said, “we are healed, thanks to the work of these demigods. The Athena Parthenos, which once stood in this temple, now stands at Camp Half Blood. It has United our progeny, and thus our own essences.”

“Lord Zeus,” Piper spoke up, “is Reyna okay? Nico and Coach Hedge?” 

Zeus knitted his cloud-coloured eyebrows. “They succeeded in their mission. As of this moment they are alive. Whether or not they are  _ okay-” _

“There is still work to be done,” Queen Hera interrupted. She spread her arms like she wanted a group hug. “But my heroes… you have triumphed over the giants as I knew you would. My plan succeeded beautifully.L

Zeus turned on his wife. Thunder shook the Acropolis. “Hera, do not  _ dare  _ take credit! You have caused  _ at least  _ as many problems as you’ve fixed!” 

The Queen of the heavens blanched. “Husband, surely you see now - this was the only way.”

“There is never only  _ one  _ way,” Pluto said, cold and calm voice a jarring change from Zeus’ bellowing. “That is why we have  _ three  _ Fates, not one. Is that not so?” 

By the ruins of the giant king’s throne, the three old ladies silently bowed their heads in recognition. Jason noticed that the other gods stayed well away from the Fates and their gleaming brass clubs.

“Brother-” Zeus attempted to intercede. 

Pluto raised a hand. “Zeus, your wife has wronged someone I considered to be under my protection. You can have your foolish blame game once she has sworn to return Jason Grace’s memories once the battle is won.” 

There was a charged moment of silence before Hera nodded. “I swear it on the  _ River Styx  _ that I will return Jason’s memories.”

“All of them,” Pluto pressed. “Some of your insistence to keep Jason this perfect champion has hurt not only Jason but my boy, too.” 

That niggled at Jason just a little bit. Why did Pluto care for him so much? Why was Juno/Hera so insistent on keeping some of his memories secret even once he was around people who could inform him of everything? There had been moments, too, where Nico had seemed like he was about to do something, was smiling a little more warmly than he did around anyone else, where Jason would start to think… but no, Nico would’ve told him, surely? 

Well… from what he did remember of Nico… probably not. The other boy was self-sacrificing to the extreme, and with contacts in both camps, he could’ve figured out Juno’s plan. Perhaps he had decided it was worth his pain to allow her scheme to play out. 

Zeus turned on Apollo. ‘’My son, come here.”

Apollo inched forward like he was walking the plank. He looked so much like a teenage demigod it was unnerving - no more than seventeen, wearing jeans and a Camp Half Blood T-shirt, with a bow sling over his shoulder and a sword at his belt. With his tousled blond hair, blue eyes and a smattering of freckles, he could introduce himself as Will Solace and Jason wouldn’t have noticed much of a difference. 

Jason wondered if Apollo had assumed this form to be inconspicuous, or to look pitiable to his father. The fear on Apollo’s face certainly looked real, and also very human. 

“Twice you have defied me,” Zeus said.

Apollo wet his lips. “My - my lord-”

“You neglected your duties. You succumbed to flattery and vanity. You encouraged your descendent Octavian to follow his dangerous path, and you prematurely revealed a prophecy that may  _ yet  _ destroy us all.”

“But-”

“Enough!” Zeus boomed. “We will speak of your punishment later-”

“Father,” Jason interrupted, wincing slightly. The other gods stared at him, but Jason didn’t care. Emboldened by a shadow curling around his ankle, he continued. “Blaming each other isn’t going to solve anything. That’s how the Romans and Greeks became divided in the first place. On some level, each god plays some part in constructing this.”

The air became dangerously ionised. Jason’s scalp tingled. 

He realised he was risking his father’s wrath. He might get turned into glitter or blasted off the Acropolis. He’d known his dad for five minutes, made a fairly shoddy impression, and here he was already, making it worse. 

A good Roman wouldn’t keep talking. 

Jason kept talking. “Apollo wasn’t the problem. To punish him for waking Gaia is - ” he wanted to say  _ stupid _ , but he caught himself - “unwise.”

“Unwise.” Zeus’s voice was almost a whisper. “Before the assembled gods, you would call me unwise.”

Before Percy could jump in, sword swinging, Pluto cleared his throat. “Had Olympus not been closed, brother, perhaps Hera would not have had to manipulate as she did. In this hypothetical, we could have addressed the Camps, informed them of their existence. Apollo could not have been swayed by a demigod who had been informed by yourself of the Greeks’ importance. Who was it who closed Olympus, again?” 

Zeus turned a ruddy shade of purple, and the air crackled as showers of sparks fell off him. 

Before someone could get hurt, Artemis stepped forward. “Surely, Father, we should attend to our more pressing problems?” 

“Gaia,” Annabeth chimed in, clearly anxious to change the topic. “She’s awake, isn’t she?” 

Zeus turned towards her. Around Jason, the air molecules stopped humming. His skull felt like what he imagined it would feel like if he stuck it in a microwave for a while.

“This is correct,” Zeus said stiltedly. Apollo breathed a sigh of relief and stumbled back to Artemis’ side. “The blood of Olympus was spilled. She if fully conscious.” 

“Oh, come  _ on!”  _ Percy complained. “I get a little nosebleed and I wake up the entire earth? That’s not fair!” 

Athena shouldered her  _ aegis _ . “Complaining of unfairness is like assigning blame, Percy Jackson. It does no one any good.” She fae Jason an approving nod. “Now you must move quickly. Gaia rises to destroy us all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments are much appreciated if you enjoy to let me know I’m doing an okay job, and if you’re into Julie and the phantoms (if you haven’t seen it check it out, it’s hsm but ghosts but gay and the music slaps) then check out my other stuff, tomorrow’s pure of heart baking venture involves macarons, and that may end badly
> 
> So, I have an interview for my dream university next Monday, which I’m super excited for but I have to do a fair bit of work for it, so I won’t be doing the chapters for last week and this week, and likely next week until sometime around next Wednesday/Thursday. Basically, these chapters are a bit more of an undertaking compared to the random JATP stuff I’ve been doing because I have to have the book on hand and plan around the actual plot and stuff, so although I might be posting a few things for that fandom, it’s a mixture of random things from my drafts and things that I’ve just worked on 100 words at a time as and when I’ve got time, but I will be back to this in about a week! Much love  
> -Meg


	24. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo straightened his tool belt indignantly. “The Argo II can make it. It only has to stay in one piece long enough to get us back home. Once there, we can abandon ship.”   
> “Dangerous,” Hephaestus warned. “Perhaps fatal.”  
> The goddess Nike twirled a Laurel wreath on her finger. “Victory is always dangerous. And it often requires a sacrifice. Leo Valdez and I have discussed this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Argh I did not intend to take a two week break, but life kinda got in the way :((((   
> I will be posting the next two days as well until I’m back on track with my posting schedule now that everything else is sorted out. This is a bit shorter than usual, because the next chapter in the book isn’t really something I can jam into the end of this one lol, but! We have a jasico reuiniom, so enjoy!

“ _ We  _ must go to camp?” Percy asked, looking between Athena and his father like he was expecting one of them to say  _ psych _ . “Should we assume no help from you? Really? After everything we’ve done?” 

Frank looked at Zeus worriedly and spoke up before Percy could keep going - Jason certainly had no plans on stopping him laying out the situation to the gods exactly as it was - and potentially get them all incinerated. “Um, sir. Your majesty. Can’t you gods just pop over there with us? You’ve got the chariots and the magic powers and whatnot. You’d be very helpful.” 

“Yes!” Hazel said. “We defeated the giants together in two seconds. Let’s all go-”

“No,” Zeus said flatly. 

“No?” Jason asked. “But, Zeus-”

Zeus’s eyes sparkled with power, and Jason realised he’d probably pushed his dad as far as he could today… and probably for the next few centuries, too. 

“That's the problem with prophecies,” Zeus growled. “When Apollo allowed the Prophecy of Seven to be spoken, and when Hera took it upon herself to interpret the words, the Fates wove the future in such a way that it only had so many possible outcomes, so many solutions. You seven, the demigods, are destined to defeat Gaia. We, the gods,  _ cannot.”  _

“I don’t get it,” Piper said. “What’s the point of being gods if you have to rely on puny mortals to do your bidding?” 

All the gods exchanged dark looks. Aphrodite, however, laughed gently and kissed her daughter. “My dear Piper, don’t you think we’ve been asking  _ ourselves  _ that question for millennia? But it is what binds us together, it is what keeps us eternal we need you mortals as much as you need us. Annoying as that may be, it’s the truth.” 

Frank shifted uncomfortably, like he missed being an elephant. “So how can we possibly get back to Camp Half-Blood in time to save it? It took us months to reach Greece.” 

“The winds,” Jason said. “Father, can’t you unleash the winds to send our ship back?” 

Zeus glowered. “I could slap you back to Long Island.”

“Um… was that a joke, or a threat, or-”

“No,” Zeus said. “I mean it quite literally. I could  _ slap  _ your ship back to Camp Half-Blood, but the force involved…” 

Over by the ruined giant throne, the grungy god in the mechanics uniform shook his head. “My boy Leo built a good ship, but it won’t sustain that kind of stress. It would break apart as soon as it arrived, maybe sooner.” 

Leo straightened his tool belt indignantly. “The  _ Argo II  _ can make it. It only has to stay in one piece long enough to get us back home. Once there, we can abandon ship.” 

“Dangerous,” Hephaestus warned. “Perhaps fatal.”

The goddess Nike twirled a Laurel wreath on her finger. “Victory is always dangerous. And it often requires a sacrifice. Leo Valdez and I have discussed this.” She stared pointedly at Leo. 

Jason didn’t like that at all, the creepy crawly feeling under his skin itching like it had when Asclepius had examined Leo, looking like he was planning his funeral.  _ Oh, my. Oh, I see…  _ Jason knew what they had to do to defeat Gaia. He knew the risks. But he wanted to take those risks himself, he couldn’t ask Leo to shoulder them.

_ Piper will have the physician’s cure,  _ he told himself.  _ She’ll keep us both covered.  _

“Leo,” Annabeth said, “what is Nike talking about?” 

Leo waved off the question. “The usual. Victory. Sacrifice. Blah, blah, blah. Doesn’t matter. We can do this, guys. We  _ have  _ to do this.”

A feeling of dread settled over Jason. Zeus was correct about one thing, that was for sure: the worst was yet to come.

_ When the choice comes,  _ Austere the South Wind had told him,  _ storm or fire, do not despair. _

Jason made the choice. “Leo’s right. All aboard for one last trip.” 

——

If Jason hadn’t been strapped to the mast with one of Leo’s twenty-point safety harnesses, he was pretty sure he would’ve been disintegrated by the force of Zeus tossing the ship and spiking it overhand like a volleyball. 

The sky turned black. The ship rattled and creaked. The deck cracked like thin ice under Jason’s legs and, with a sonic boom, the  _ Argo II  _ hurtled out of the clouds.

“Jason!” Leo shouted. “Hurry!”

His fingers felt like melted plastic, but Jason managed to undo the straps.

Leo was lashed to the console, desperately trying to right the ship as they spiralled downward in free fall. The sails were on fire. Festus creaked in alarm. A catapult peeled away and lifted into the air. Centripetal force sent the shields flying off the railings like metal frisbees. 

Wider cracks opened in the deck as Jason staggered towards the hold, only barely managing to keep himself anchored using the winds.

If he couldn’t make it to the others… 

Then the hatch burst open. Frank and Hazel stumbled through, pulling on the guide rope they’d attached to the mast. Piper, Annabeth and Percy followed, all of them looking disoriented.

“Go!” Leo yelled. “Go, go, go!” 

For once, Leo’s tone was deadly serious. 

They’d talked through their evacuation plan, but that slap across the world had made Jason’s mind sluggish. Judging from the others’ expressions, they weren’t in much better shape.

Buford the table saved them. He clattered across the deck with his holographic Hedge blaring, “LET’S GO! MOVE IT! CUT THAT OUT!” 

Then his tabletop split into helicopter blades and Buford buzzed away.

Frank changed form. Instead of a dazed demigod, he was now a dazed grey dragon. Hazel climbed onto his neck, and Frank grabbed Percy and Annabeth in his front claws before spreading his wings and soaring away.

Jason held Piper by the waist, ready to fly, but he made the mistake of looking down. The view was a spinning kaleidoscope of sky, earth, sky, earth. The ground was getting far too close for comfort.

“Leo, you won’t make it!” Jason shouted. “Don’t be a fucking idiot, just come with us!” 

“No! Get out of here!” 

“Leo!” Piper tried. “Please-”

“Save your charmspeak, Pipes! I told you, I’ve got a plan! Now fuck off outta here!” 

Jason took a last look at the splintering ship. 

The  _ Argo II  _ had been their home for so long. Now they were abandoning it for good - and leaving Leo behind.

Jason hated it, but he saw the determination in Leo’s eyes. He’d never doubted his friend before, and he swore to himself he wouldn’t start now 

Jason harnessed the winds, and he and Piper shot into the sky.

The ground wasn’t much less chaotic. 

As they plummeted, Jason saw a vast army of monsters spread across the hills -  _ cynocephali,  _ two-headed men, wild centaurs, ogres, and others he couldn’t even name - surrounding two tiny islands of demigods. At the crest of Half-Blood Hill, gathered at the feet of the Athena Parthenos, was the main force of Camp Half-Blood along with the First and Fifth Cohorts, rallied around the golden eagle of the legion. The other three Roman cohorts were in a defensive formation several hundred yards away and seemed to be bearing the brunt of the attack.

Giant eagles circled Jason, screeching urgently as if they were waiting for him to start handing out orders. 

Frank the grey dragon flew alongside with his passengers. 

“Hazel!” Jason yelled, tunnelling the wind so his voice would carry. “If those cohorts down there don’t merge with the rest of the demigods-”

“On it!” Hazel replied. “Go, Frank!”

Dragon Frank veered to the left with Annabeth in one claw yelling, “Let’s get ‘em!” And Percy in the other claw screaming, “I hate flying!” 

Jason veered them towards the summit of Half-Blood Hill and put them down as carefully as he could, both landing with their swords drawn as a cheer went up from the Greeks and the Romans. 

A black blur drew his attention to his right, and his heart lifted when he saw Nico, cutting through a crowd to make his way towards them, tendrils of darkness bleeding not only off his blade, but off of  _ him.  _

A smear of purple and gold stole his focus, and on his left he saw Reyna only a few feet away, astride a new Pegasus with her sword drawn. 

In minutes, his arms were full of them, and it was all he could do to hold on as tightly as possible for a moment, doing his best to ignore the niggling suspicion about Nico in the back of his mind. They could talk about the possibility of them having dated before Jason got kidnapped and Nico not telling him about it once there was no immediate threat to their continued existence. 

“About time!” Reyna chided. “Glad you could join us!” 

With a start, Jason realised she was addressing the both of them.

Piper’s cheeks flushed a little as she grinned. “My apologies,  _ praetor.  _ We had some giants to kill!”

“Well I can’t fault you for that.” Reyna returned her smile. “Help yourself to some barbarians?” 

“Why, thank you!” 

The two girls launched into battle, side by side.

Jason turned to Nico, absently tossing him a knife just as a two-headed man tried to sneak up on him. 

“Gods, I’ve missed you,” Jason blurted out before he could stop himself, narrowly avoiding a javelin to the gut. 

Nico grinned at him, and it was a grin that felt so fucking familiar, even though Jason had no memory of ever seeing it; a little too bloodthirsty to be comforting, but still warm and beautiful and so  _ Nico.  _ In a moment of oddly uncomfortably self realisation, Jason came to the conclusion that if Nico ripped a heart out of some monster’s chest and offered it to him in apology, he’d probably take it.

“Were they flirting?” Jason asked, glancing at Reyna and Piper as he threw himself into the fight, whirling his sword with abandon. “Am I imagining that or were they just flirting?” 

Nico shrugged. “Do you think I understand how women work? I can barely tie my fucking shoelaces, the female brain is way beyond my reach. Where’s the ship?” 

Jason pointed. The  _ Argo II  _ streaked across the sky in a ball of fire, shedding burning chunks of mast , hull and armament. Jason didn’t see how even fireproof Leo could survive in that inferno, but he had to hope. 

“Gods,” Nico said, tone gently, like he thought Jason would break at anything harsher. Somehow it wasn’t as annoying as Jason thought it should be. “Is everyone okay?” 

“Leo…” Jason’s voice broke. “He said he had a plan.” 

The comet disappeared behind the western hills. Jason waited with dread for the sound of an explosion, but he heard nothing over the roar of battle. 

Nico met his eyes. “He’ll be fine, Jay. The fucker is like a cockroach. I love him, but he will  _ not  _ die.” 

Jason snorted. “He’s far too contrary to let us be right about that though.”

“That’s a valid point,” Nico conceded, dropping to avoid a scythe to the neck, before popping up and slashing a  _ telkhine _ to ribbons. “But also he needs to have the last word. He’ll probably outlive us all out of pure spite.” 

“He’ll be fine,” Jason agreed, glancing back to the hillside again.

“But just in case… for Leo.”

“For Leo,” Jason agreed. They charged into the fight.

Jason didn’t know if it was his anger renewing his strength, or if it was fighting alongside someone who he knew as instinctively as he knew Nico, even if his memories still hadn’t returned, but this was nothing like any battle he’d fought before. His movements were fluid, his veins crackled with pure electricity, and everything around him slowed down, like he’d absorbed so much energy that he’d sped up. All he really knew was that he’d never fought like this before; a force of frenzied winds and arcs of lightning, countered only by the killing calm that had surrounded Nico, who appeared to have summonsed some kind of death zone around them. Jason couldn’t hear the yelling or clanging of blades, or the screams of the monsters around him. His world started and ended with the roaring of his blood in his ears; the point of his blade;  _ Nico _ . They moved intuitively, predicting each other’s moves and throwing weapons back and forth like they’d been training together for decades, barely speaking except to warn each other’s 

The Greeks and Romans slowly pushed back the enemies. Wild centaurs roared. Wolf-headed men howled as they were cut to ashes. 

More monsters kept appearing -  _ karpoi _ grain spirits swirling out of the grass, gryphons diving from the sky, lumpy clay humanoids - but Jason imagined it had been a long time since a son of the Sky and a son of the Dead had gone into battle together, and nothing came forward that managed to withstand them for long. 

By the time Will Solace appeared, they’d made a pretty considerable dent in the tide of monsters, and when Nico turned to him and said, “Jay! I gotta go!”, Jason felt like they were in a good enough position just to nod, and only watched for a moment as they dashed off into the fray. 

A moment later, a squad of Hermes campers gathered around Jason for no apparent reason. 

Connor Stoll grinned. “What’s up, Grace?” 

“I’m good,” Jason said. “I just love risking my life. Really jogs the liver. You?” 

Connor dodged an ogre club and stabbed a grain spirit, which exploded in a cloud of wheat. “Yeah, y’know, same. Can't complain. Nice day for it, and all.” 

Reyna yelled, “ _ Eiaculare flammas!”  _ And a wave of flaming arrows arced over the legion’s shield wall, destroying a platoon of ogres. The Roman ranks moved forward, impaling centaurs and trampling wounded ogres under their bronze-tipped boots. 

Somewhere downhill, Jason heard Frank yell in Latin: “ _ Repellere equites!”  _

A massive herd of centaurs parted in panic as the legion’s other three cohorts ploughed through in perfect formation, their spears bright with monster dust. Frank marched before them. On the left flank, riding Arion, Hazel beamed with pride.

“ _ Ave, Primus Pilus,”  _ Reyna called.

“ _ Ave, Praetor  _ Ramírez-Arellano!” Frank replied. “ _ Praetor  _ di-Angelo is helping with some fuckery, I figured I could help!” 

Reyna grinned and nodded her assent. “Let’s do this!” 

Frank saluted her. “Legion, CLOSE RANKS!” 

A cheer went up among the Romans as the five cohorts melded into one massive killing machine. Frank pointed his sword forward and, from the eagle standard, tendrils of lightning swept across the enemy, turning several hundred monsters to toast.

“Legion,  _ cuneum formate!”  _ Reyna yelled. “Advance!” 

Another cheer went up on Jason’s right as Percy and Annabeth reunited with the forces of Camp Half-Blood. 

“Greeks!” Percy yelled. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen some of you assholes, but we’ve defended our home before, and we’ll fucking do it again! Let’s show these motherfuckers who’s boss!” 

His anger bled through the crowd. Jason didn’t know if it was Percy himself - his anger, his experience, his readiness to lead them into battle and risk his neck alongside every single soldier he was asking to charge - or if he had some kind of siren ability from his father, but Jason felt kind of like he’d been hit with a wall of charmspeak, but with no direct order other than to feel excited and angry and ready to kill. 

The Greeks yelled like banshees and charged.

Jason grinned. He loved the Greeks. From the outside, they had no organisation whatsoever, but he knew that wasn’t true. Without any formal instruction, they stormed into battle and wreaked havoc on an equal level to the Romans, and Jason could see formations being assembled and dismantled as and when they were needed, with an ease that made him wish he’d had a couple Greek instructors during his training. 

Jason was feeling good about the battle, except for the two big questions, which were a little too important to shove to the back of his mind: where was Leo? And where was Gaia? 

Unfortunately, the second answer arrived before the first.

Under his feet, the earth rippled as if Half-Blood Hill had become a giant water mattress. Demigods fell. Ogres slipped. Centaurs charged face-first into the grass. 

_ AWAKE,  _ a voice boomed around all of them.

A hundred yards away, at the crest of the next hill, the grass and soil swirled upwards like the point of a massive drill. The column of earth thickened into the twenty-foot-tall figure of a woman - her dress woven from blades of grass, her skin as white as quartz, her hair brown and tangled like tree roots. 

_ “Little fools.”  _ Gaia the Earth Mother opened her pure green eyes. “ _ The paltry magic of your statue cannot contain me.”  _

As she said it, Jason realised why Gaia hadn’t appeared until now. The Athena Parthenos had been protecting the demigods, holding back the wrath of the earth, but even Athena’s might could only last so long against a primordial goddess. 

Fear as palpable as a cold front washed over the demigod army. 

“Stand fast!” Piper shouted, her charmspeak clear and loud. “Greeks and Romans, we can fight her together!” 

Gaia laughed. She spread her arms and the earth bent towards her - trees tilting, bedrock groaning, skin rippling in waves. Jason rose on the wind, but all around him monsters and demigods alike started to sink into the ground. One of Octavian’s onagers capsized and disappeared into the side of the hill. 

“ _ The whole earth is my body,”  _ Gaia boomed. “ _ How would you fight me? Where would you fight me? Everywhere is my domain. I am the goddess of-” _

_ FOOOOOMP! _

In a flash of bronze, Gaia was swept off of the hillside, snarled in the claws of a fifty-ton metal dragon. 

Features, reborn literally from the ashes, rose into the sky on gleaming wings , spewing fire from his jaw triumphantly. As he ascended, the rider on his back got smaller and more difficult to discern, but Jason would know Leo anywhere.

“Pipes! Jason!” He shouted down. “Get the gang and come on! The fight’s up here!”


	25. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As soon as Gaia achieved liftoff, the ground solidified.   
> Demigods stopped sinking, though many were still buried up to their waists. Scarily, the monsters seemed to be digging themselves out more quickly. They charged the Greek and Roman ranks, taking advantage of the demigods’ disorganisation.   
> Jason put his arm around Piper’s waist. He was about to take off when Percy yelled, “wait! Frank can fly the rest of us up there! We can all-”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah oh my god this was *not* supposed to take me so long to write, I kinda of lost the plot over Christmas, and have only just remembered I actually had this going on, so I am incredibly sorry!!   
> For those of you who wished me luck with the uni interview, thank you so much, I found out last week that I have an offer, so whooop! I’m going to med school   
> Now, I have basically officially gotten to the end of where this fic follows the book, because there’s only like four book chapters left, and they’re all Solangelo/Jasper which... doesn’t work with this. So, here’s my best shot at actually tying back into the plot, enjoy!

As soon as Gaia achieved liftoff, the ground solidified. 

Demigods stopped sinking, though many were still buried up to their waists. Scarily, the monsters seemed to be digging themselves out more quickly. They charged the Greek and Roman ranks, taking advantage of the demigods’ disorganisation. 

Jason put his arm around Piper’s waist. He was about to take off when Percy yelled, “wait! Frank can fly the rest of us up there! We can all-”

“No, man,” Jason said. “They need you here. There’s still an army to defeat. Besides, the prophecy-”

“He’s right.” Frank gripped Percy’s arm. “You have to let them do this, Perce. It’s like Annabeth’s quest in Rome or Hazel at the Doors of Death. They started this all, they have to be the ones to finish it. This part can only be them.” 

Percy obviously didn’t like it, but at that moment a flood of monsters swept over the Greek forces. Annabeth called to him, “Hey! Problem over here!” Percy ran to join her.

Frank and Hazel turned to Jason. They raised their arms in the Roman salute, then ran off to rejoin the legion. 

Jason and Piper spiralled upward on the wind. 

“I’ve got the cure,” Piper muttered like a chant. “It’ll be fine. I’ve got the cure.”

Jason realised she’d lost her sword somewhere during the battle, but he doubted it would matter. Against Gaia, a sword would do no good. This was about storm and fire… and a third power, Piper’s charmspeak, which would hold them together. Last winter, Piper had slowed the power of Gaia at the Wolf House, helping to free Hera from a cage of earth. Jason could only hope she’d grown into her powers enough to keep them all alive. 

As they ascended, Jason gathered the wind and clouds around him. The sky responded with frightening speed, and soon they were in the eye of a maelstrom, and it was all Jason could do to stop the lightning that he could feel crackling under his skin from exploding out. Flashes of electricity at the outskirts of the storm burned his eyes. Thunder made his teeth vibrate.

Directly above them, Festus grappled with the earth goddess. Gaia kept disintegrating, trying to trickle back to the ground, but Jason envisaged the fists of the Little Tiber that Frank had described Percy creating and kept the ashes aloft and churning. Festus sprayed her with fire, which seemed to force her to stop dissipating. Meanwhile, from Festus’s back, Leo blasted the goddess with flames of his own and hurled insults. “Potty Sludge! Dirt Face! THIS IS FOR MY MOTHER, ESPERANZA VALDEZ!”

His whole body was wreathed in fire. Rain hung in the stormy air, but it only sizzled and steamed. Jason had seen paintings of Jupiter that had called to him less. 

Jason zoomed towards him. 

Gaia turned into loose white sand, but Jason called upon a squadron of  _ venti _ , on his friends, from Tempest and the winds of the North to the fiery steeds of the south who’d brought him back to Leo way back in Malta. They swept around her, constraining her in a sparking cocoon of wind and sleet. 

Gaia fought back. When she wasn’t disintegrating, she lashed out with shrapnel blasts of stone and soil that Jason only barely deflected. Stoking the storm, containing Gaia, keeping himself and Piper aloft… Jason had never done anything so difficult. He felt like he was covered in lead weights, trying to swim with only his legs while holding a car over his head. Every part of him screamed with exhaustion or exaltation or some awful, incredible mixture. 

He had to keep Gaia off the ground.

It was the secret Kym had hinted at when they spoke at the bottom of the sea, it was what Auster encouraged him to be brave enough to do, it was what Pluto entrusted him with. 

Long ago, Ouranos the sky god - Gaia’s husband - had been tricked down to earth by Gaia and the Titans. They’d held him down on the ground so he couldn’t escape and, with his powers weakened from being so far from his home territory, they’d been able to cut him apart. 

Somehow, Jason had to be strong enough to do alone what had taken Gaia and twelve titans - keep a primordial goddess from her domain.

Jason, Leo and Piper had to reverse that scenario and weaken her until she could be defeated. 

Together they rose. Jason felt the familiar tightness in his chest as the air thinned and the oxygen levels decreased. Festus creaked and groaned with effort. But he continued to gain altitude. Jason still didn’t understand how or when Leo had managed to remake the dragon until he remembered how many times he’d ended up sleeping in the hull because Leo wouldn’t be moved, and forgot to sleep when left alone. Leo must have been planning this for some time, and been rebuilding a new body for Festus within the framework of the ship. 

He must have known in his gut that the  _ Argo II  _ would eventually fall apart. Jason wanted to rationalise it to being similar to Festus turning into a suitcase back in Quebec, but he couldn’t, not really, even if he didn’t have time to fully bask in the brilliance of his best friend. 

However it had happened, anyway, Jason was just elated to see Festus in action again. 

“ _ YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME!”  _ Gaia grumbled to sand, only to get blasted by more flames. Her body melted into a lump of glass, shattered, then reformed again as a human. “ _ I AM ETERNAL!”  _

_ “ _ Eternally annoying!” Leo yelled, and he urged Festus higher. 

Jason and Piper rose with them. 

“Get me closer, ” Piper urged. “I need to be next to her.”

“Piper, the flames and the shrapnel-”

“I know.”

Jason moved in until they were right next to Gaia. The winds encased the goddess, forcing her to remain solid or lose herself entirely to the swirling vortex, but it was small Jason could do to contain her blasts of sand and soil. Her eyes were solid green, like all of nature had been condensed into a few spoonfuls of organic matter. 

“ _ FOOLISH CHILDREN!”  _ Her face contorted with miniature earthquakes and mudslides. 

“You’re so weary,” Piper told the goddess, her voice radiating kindness and sympathy. “Aeons of pain and disappointment weigh on you.” 

“ _ SILENCE!”  _

The force of Gaia’s anger was so great that Jason momentarily lost control of the wind. He would’ve stopped into free fall, but Festus caught him and Piper in his other huge claw. 

Amazingly, Piper kept her focus. “Millennia of sorrow,” she told Gaia. “Your husband Ouranos was abusive. Your grandchildren the gods overthrew your beloved children the Titans. Your other children, the Cyclopes and the Hundred-Handed Ones were thrown into Tartarus, You are so tired of heartache.”

“ _ LIES!”  _ Gaia crumbled into a tornado of soil and grass, but her essence seemed to churn more sluggishly, and the winds stole a little more of her.

If they gained any more altitude, the air would be too thin to breathe. Jason was the only one of them with any sort of resistance to altitude sickness, and even that would be weakened if the sapping of the strength from his limbs was any indication of the toll Piper’s talk of exhaustion was taking on him. 

“What you want,” Piper continued, “more than victory, more than revenge… you want to  _ rest.  _ You are so weary, so incomprehensibly tired of the ungrateful mortals and immortals.”

“ _ I- YOU DO NOT SPEAK FOR ME - YOU CANNOT-” _

“You want one thing,” Piper said soothingly, her voice resonating through Jason’s bones. “One word. You want permission to close your eyes and forget your troubles. You - want - SLEEP!” 

Gaia solidified into human form. Her head lolled, her eyes closed, and she went limp in Festus’s claw.

Black started to creep into his vision, and he fought it desperately, electricity making his fingers numb. If he lost control now, he’d kill Leo and Piper. 

The wind was dying. The storm dissipated. Stars and black spots danced in his eyes. 

“Leo!” Piper gasped for breath, “we only have a few seconds. My charmspeak won’t-”

“I know!” Leo looked like he was  _ made  _ of fire. Flames rippled beneath his skin, illuminating his skull. Festus steamed and glowed, his claws burning through Jason’s shirt. “I can’t contain the fire much longer. I’ll vaporise her. Don’t worry. But you guys need to leave.”

“No!” Jason protested, barely able to push the word out. “We have.. have to stay with you. Piper’s got the cure. Leo, you can’t-”

“Hey!” Leo grinned, which was unnerving in the flames, his teeth like molten silver ingots. “I told you I had plans, when are you going to trust me? And by the way - I love you guys.” 

Before Jason could open his mouth to respond, Festus opened his claw and Jason and Piper fell. 

Jason had no strength to stop it. He pushed Piper away with as much force as he could as she cried Leo’s name, and they plummeted earthwards. 

Festus became smaller and smaller until he was just an indistinct ball of fire in the sky - a second sun, then, in the corner of Jason’s eye, a blazing comet streaked upwards from the ground with a high-pitched, almost human scream. The comet intercepted the ball of fire just as Jason lost grip on the lightning that had been building under his skin since liftoff. 

He prayed to every god he could think of that Piper was safe as his consciousness was torn away from him. 

The explosion turned the entire sky gold, and the last thing Jason saw was blue smears reaching out to join it. 

——

At first, Jason just dreamed of the heavens burning. 

The human scream of the comet morphed through every single one of his friends’ voices, Leo burning in his own fire was replaced by Percy choking on poison hundreds of feet underwater, by Frank wreathed in red and bleeding from a million unnoticed cuts, by Annabeth lost in a world of plans and possibilities without pause for days on end, by Hazel, glowing brilliant gold and crushed by double her weight in precious metals, by Piper, mouth open and nothing coming out, hands clutching at her throat. 

By himself, torn to pieces in hurricane-force winds, whipped endlessly by relentless frozen rain, twitching and grinning as electricity sparked in his eyes. 

How close was he to becoming Leo? 

How had he avoided it, when he’d sworn Leo wouldn’t be the one to die? 

——

Eventually, the dreams changed. The shadows became friendlier, and the dark felt more like home and instead of awful images that burned themselves into his retina, he started seeing little clips and moments that slotted into his mind as they’d always belonged there. 

——

Jason was sitting in the senate,  _ centurion  _ badge heavy on his chest. 

He had a hazy feeling of déjà-vu - he’d definitely been here before, but he couldn’t connect it to anything in his memory. 

The doors slammed open, and the legionnaires who’d been on border patrol frog-marched in with a scrawny, malnourished Nico di Angelo, maybe a year younger than Jason at most, eyes darker than anything Jason had ever seen, hair an inky, feathery disaster, with twigs and leaves caught up in it. Shadows curled at his limbs like they were trying to tear him away from the guards. 

He looked terrified, hands shaking and lip wobbling slightly, but when the  _ praetor  _ called for him to speak, the  _ Lars  _ stopped talking immediately. Jason had seen him do that before, some other time, but he couldn’t force his way out of whatever weird recollection he was trapped in.

When he spoke, his voice was steadier and raspier and rougher than Jason had ever imagined a kid than nervous and young could sound, but he wasn’t really surprised. In the months that he’d re-gotten to know him, Nico had never once sounded scared, and he always sounded far more battle-worn and weary than a fifteen-year-old should. 

“My father is Pluto,” he said, eyes scanning the room. “He wants me to join the Legion, but he’s unsure of how you’ll treat his children. Until such a point where he’s certain I’ll be..” his expression darkened like it had when they’d faced Cupid. “... safe, he wants me to act as his ambassador.” 

——

Next thing he knew, he was on the Field of Mars and Nico was next to him. 

It was the first time he could think of that he’d seen Nico in full Roman armour - all an inky black, of course. 

Nico taught like he always did, an unstoppable whirlwind of shadows and flashing blades and destruction, ignoring every legionnaire near him that he wasn’t required to incapacitate, neatly smashing the flat of his blade against helmets and punching throats of the legionnaires he was. 

This was, Jason thought absently, likely Nico’s first war game, before he’d learned to build on the strengths and skills of the soldiers around him, back when he’d still fought like his options were taking out everyone in his general vicinity, or dying. 

They managed a victory - barely. As much of a one-man-army as Nico was, his darkness sapped the energy of many of the campmates on his team too, and Jason ended up having to join him on the front line, even though he was pretty sure his job had been to assist from the skies to let the other guys have some of the glory, this time. 

It was the first time Jason ever fought by Nico’s side, he was pretty sure.

——

Jason saw Nico running towards him, tugging on the hand of a girl that was built like Jason - big shoulders, big muscles, regal expression - who’s braid and dress were flying out behind her as she followed him. 

“Jay! Jay! This is Reyna, and she’s in the first cohort, but she’s actually not that bad, and she showed me this move with a dagger, and it was so fucking cool!” Nico babbled excitedly once he caught up to Jason. 

Jason laughed. “Mars, almighty, slow down Neeks, I’m pretty sure Reyna can’t understand a word you’re saying.” 

Nico levelled a glare at him. “I will cut you off at the knees, don’t test me on this one, Grace.” 

“Hi,” Reyna said, offering her hand. “I’m Reyna, it’s nice to meet you. Nico has told me a lot about you.”

“Aw, Neeks.” Jason grinned. “Hi, I’m Jason, nice to meet you too. I’m afraid I can’t say the same, unless, of course, you’re the new sparring partner that keeps stealing him away when I want to blast the fucker with lightning for shadowtravelling my bed to the top of the _Principia_ _?”  _

“That would be me,” Reyna admitted. “And wasn’t that a good plan? I thought the superman bedspread was very sweet.” 

“Superman is the only superhero Jay even knows about,” Nico informed her. “Because he’s an egomaniac.” 

Jason lunged for him. “C’mere you little  _ bastard.”  _

As Jason kind of expected, Nico vanished immediately, leaving little vapour trails of shadow in his place. Young Jason clearly didn’t expect it, because he tripped and fell, just as Nico reappeared a foot away, clutching his stomach and cackling. 

Reyna snorted. “And to think the rest of Camp lauds you two as the most powerful soldiers of a generation.” 

Jason summoned a wind to lift himself to his feet, and then whipped it towards Nico like a towel, grinning to himself when Nico yelped and glared at him. “Oh, us? No, you should hear the way they talk about Ramirez-Arellano, I think the  _ praetors  _ are in love.”

Reyna smiled shyly at him. “Reyna Ramirez Arellano, at your service.” 

“Oh, shit,” Jason said, then after a moment, “did you really punch Octavian in the face when you first got here?” 

——

“Okay, Jay, I know we’ve been working at this for hours, but you need to listen to me-” 

Jason stood up straight. “I  _ am  _ listening to you! I’ve been listening to you  _ all  _ day! I don’t just have some ball of emotions sitting around in my chest waiting for whenever I need them!” 

Nico snorted. “Yeah, no shit, Grace. You have to reach for them. What makes you mad?” 

“Currently? You,” Jason snarked.

“Not something that superficial.” Nico waved a hand dismissively. “Octavian! Think about Octavian, and imagine blasting him in his Weasel little ferret face.” 

Lightning crackled at his fingertips as frustration brewed in his chest.

“That’s it!” Nico cheered. “C’mon, Jason, you’ve got this! Just pretend Vitellius is talking your ear off about the good old days!”

——

He was worried  _ sick.  _

Nico had been gone for weeks, and the war was over, they’d - he’d - defeated Krios at Mount Othrys, they’d stormed his weird, obsidian headquarters, he and Reyna had been lauded as  _ praetors  _ on shields, and Nico still wasn’t fucking here. He could be dead or held captive, and Jason wouldn’t know a single godbedamned thing.

He was addressing the legion for the first time with Reyna, when a gasp rippled through the crowd, and the shadows coalesced next to him. 

Nico stumbled out of them a minute later, eyes rimmed red and sunken into his face, hair as much of a mess as it had been when they first met, every visible part of him littered on scratches, and, Jason assumed, most of the rest of him.

Jason surged forward just a millisecond faster than Reyna, sweeping Nico up into a hug. “I missed you so fucking much, man. Are you okay? Do you need help? Where have you been? Neptune’s fucking balls, where have you  _ been _ ?” 

Nico laughed and hugged him back just as tightly, not answering a single question. 

Jason pulled back after a moment, and really, he should’ve dragged Nico to the infirmary, or pushed him for answers, and older-Jason was screaming at himself to just get the poor kid some medical attention, but he had no control here, so instead he just rested his forehead against Nico’s. “If I kiss you in front of everyone are you gonna stab me?” 

“No,” Nico whispered. “I won’t stab you, Jay.”

——

He saw a vaguely younger version of himself combing his hair - golden retriever blond instead of cornfield white, regulation length, not a strand out of place - desperately in a mirror, before throwing himself recklessly down a flight of stairs, trusting the wind to catch him without hesitation, in a way he was only just learning to, and throwing the door open to see Nico, cheeks full, no shadows under his eyes, with a bit of a tan. 

“Jay!” Nico said, grinning at him. “We just gotta pick up a picnic basket from Mrs Lovanne, but then we’re good to go.”

Jason moved forward without meaning to, shutting the door behind him. When he spoke, the words came out without any input from him. “Sounds great, Neeks. Are you gonna tell me what we’re doing yet?” 

Nico snorted and grabbed his hand, weaving them effortlessly through the crowds of New Rome, greeting people like he was friends with all of them. He looked more alive than Jason ever remembered seeing him, and more at home than Jason had ever felt there. “Absolutely not, otherwise it wouldn’t be a surprise, silly.” 

“Reyna’s gonna kill you if you’re leading me off to murder me,” Jason teased, not getting quite the warm reception that Nico did, instead respectful nods and ‘ _ Ave, Praetor’ _ s. 

“Firstly, I’m definitely her favourite, she’d understand,” Nico reminded him as they reached the bakery. “And secondly, you, mr. Raised-by-wolves, have never left Camp Jupiter except for quests, I wouldn’t trust you with our first date if it was life or death.”

Jason felt like that should hurt, but instead he just spluttered. “Says mr. Spent-seven-decades-frozen-in-time!” 

“If you had any knowledge of pop-culture, you would’ve just called me Captain America,” Nico informed him, then disappeared into the bakery. 

——

Jason was lounging against the tunnel when Nico burst through it. The scene was oddly like the memory of Nico tugging Reyna towards him, but instead of a tall, muscular girl in a flowing white dress that Jason had heard was from Circe’s island, this time he was guiding a small, dark skinned girl towards him, who was looking around the Camp like she’d never seen anything like it. 

Before the whole kidnapping situation, Jason had barely seen anything not-like it, so it was hard to relate, but he’d seen a lot of new recruits, and he knew the sight could be overwhelming. 

Nico stopped short in front of him, grinning. “Jay! This is Hazel Levesque, she’s my sister. She’s… she’s like me.” 

Jason blinked. “From the forties? A one man army?” 

Hazel brushed invisible lint off her skirt. “Thirties, actually,” she said quietly, glancing around nervously. 

“You’re telling me Pluto is the only one of the big three with multiple kids, yet he’s still somehow the only one who didn’t break the oath?” Jason asked, then winced when Nico elbowed him. “Sorry, um. I’m Jason Grace, welcome to Camp Jupiter. It’s lovely to meet you.” 

“It’s nice to meet you, Jason. Nico talks… a  _ lot _ about you.” 

——

Jason was pretty sure they were sat on top of the  _ principia,  _ picnic blanket underneath them, and a wicker basket with the biggest tub of brownies Jason had ever seen between them. 

Nico moved it aside and curled into Jason’s side, shivering slightly as a cool breeze picked up. 

“Are you sure you wanna stay out for this, babe?” Jason asked quietly, carding his fingers through Jason’s hair. “It’s okay if you wanna go in.”

Nico rolled his eyes, but leaned into it. “Shut up, I want to see the meteor shower. You’re the prince of the sky, or whatever, just make it not windy.” 

“You’re so bossy,” Jason teased, doing his best to make a little bubble of warmer air. “Is that okay for his lordship?” 

Nico sniffed daintily. “It’ll do, I suppose, but I will have you know that my father is the  _ king  _ of the dead, and he will be most displeased if I am to catch a cold.” 

“Oh my gods,” Jason laughed and pulled him closer, then cleared his throat. “As you wish, your highness, although I feel it is, it is most imperative that you know that  _ my  _ father is king of the skies, and your disrespect  _ shall  _ be noted.” 

“Shush, look!” Nico pointed at the sky, and Jason only barely looked up in time to see a speck of light shoot across the night sky. “Make a wish.”

“I wish-”

“Not out loud, Jay. In your mind, otherwise you’ll jinx it.” 

——

Jason breathed out slowly, eyes closed. He reached for every strong emotion he could think of - like he had near Pylos, really - the anger at his father, his love for Nico, Reyna, Hazel, Gwen, Dakota, all of his friends, his  _ family,  _ the frustration at how hard it was to get anything to change in this place, how wanderlust crawled under his skin and drove him crazy, how he wanted the world at his feet and a map in his hands, how he wanted to stay curled up on the couch forever. 

A spark caught in his chest and raced down his limbs until burning hot electricity filled his veins and turned his fingertips numb. Winds swirled around around him, starting playfully nipping at his feet, then whipping up into a frenzy until he rose a few feet off the ground. His ears popped as the pressure dropped, and thunder rumbled on the horizon.

He opened his eyes as the first droplet of rain splashed onto his forehead. 

Jason looked around to see a full tempest in motion around him, clouds gathering, lighting branching off him in brilliant, blinding arcs, rain falling so thick and so fast that Jason didn’t even feel himself get wet - he just went from dry to drenched in a second - and his heart was  _ singing.  _

This was the euphoria he’d been missing in Pylos. 

It wasn’t about being able to fight, it wasn’t about being a secret weapon that could be detonated. Hell, it wasn’t even about being able to defend his family.. 

It was about the wind on his face and his hair plastered to his forehead and lighting to bright and hot that he couldn’t see and it was about seeing Nico, barely possible to make out through it all, beaming like he’d known Jason could do it all along, and it was about feeling like he’d found himself again, grinning stupidly at the boy he was quite possible in love with, while every pulse of his heart made the storm grow around him, and feeling like Jupiter could get fucked, because this wasn’t his birthright, it was his  _ home.  _

——

Jason finally managed to blink awake, rubbing the crust from his eyes. 

Will Solace’s face appeared inches from his. “Are you awake? Jason Grace I swear to fucking Ares if you’re awake I’m gonna punch you so goddamn hard, Nico has been sleeping in a plastic chair for  _ two days,  _ and that idiot boy needs serious medical attention.” 

Jason coughed and pushed himself to sitting upright. Despite his words, Willie immediately grabbed a pillow to prop him up and gently eased him into a more comfortable position. 

“Nico’s here?” He asked, voice raspy. Juno’s tits, he sounded like he’d been asleep for two days, even though it was hard to wrap his mind around that. The memories felt like they’d lasted seconds - minutes, at a stretch. 

Will nodded, eyes narrowing again. “He won’t leave, because he’s stupid. At least Reyna let me bully her out of here after one night of attempting to sleep in those chairs.” 

As if summoned, Nico jolted upright in the little plastic chair in the corner of the room. His eyes darted around frantically until they made contact with Jason’s. 

“Jay,” he breathed. “You remember, don’t you?” 


	26. NOT A CHAPTER

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soz kids   
> (Not abandoning)

Okay right, so I figured I may well just kind of stop messing about and pretending like I can trick myself back into the fandom by scrolling through the tag on tumblr. Essentially, I have maybe 6/7 chapters roughly that I want to write for this, to get to the end, and I’m gonna attempt to write them over the next three months or so, but I won’t be updating until I’ve got all of it done, so I’m not stringing y’all along super slowly. It kinda sucks because I was super invested in this and I still am, but now that I’ve got to the end of the book I have to generate actual thoughts for this, and my head is saying no. Loosely, I’m gonna put this on Hiatus until 25th April, by which point I should have everything done for all of it, and I’ll post the whole end of the fic in one go.   
Big sorry, I did not expect to get super hyper fixated on another fandom, and this is just currently not happening at the minute.  
-meg

**Author's Note:**

> Regular updates will be every Monday, please don’t hesitate to give me some constructive criticism, but kudos and comments are much appreciated if you’re enjoying it :)


End file.
